HOPE OF THE STATES: A RETROSPECTIVE



So Hope of the States- the band that started it all. In 2004 I was a fresh-faced first-year student at the University of York, already dabbling in slightly more obscure stuff than my nu-metal loving compatriots when I read a review by John Earls concerning an exciting up-and-coming Chichester six-piece that had produced the best first demo of any band he’d heard in all his years as a music critic. My interest piqued, I investigated further- I purchased this band’s first single “The Red, The White, The Black, The Blue” on the day of release and the rest, as they say is history. For the first time, I had discovered the thrill of knowing about a band that was still bubbling under the radar, a band of quite exceptional talent that in a fair world would be playing arenas by now. I bought their debut ‘The Lost Riots’ the day it came out, heard The Black Amnesiacs and felt my jaw drop to the floor; a month later I went to my first ‘proper’ London gig- I don’t count the Red Hot Chilli Peppers- at the Electric Ballroom and came to realise quite how breathtaking live music could be. In essence, it’s their fault (along with Arcade Fire) that I’ve spent almost £5000 on gigs over the last four and a half years, and I’m eternally grateful for it.

So what did they sound like? Perhaps you’d call them an orchestral take on Radiohead, with a touch of the celestial soundscapes of Sigur Ros, the post-rock grandeur of Mogwai and the unabashed bombast of Muse. They were ambitious, epic, unashamedly emotional and not even Sam Herhily’s vocals (more often than note a gargled, tuneless monotone) could scupper their brilliance. ‘The Lost Riots’ to this day remains one of my favourite records of all time- it has a couple of duff tracks, but it also has ‘Black Dollar Bills,’ the song that most perfectly captures everything I loved about them, the sweeping scope, the gorgeous post-rock build-ups, the tinnitus-inducing guitars at the end.

But foremost, they remain the best ’rarities’ band I’ve ever encountered. Whilst their big-name record company was pressuring them to go for a mainstream demographic (ultimately leading to the poppier, radio-friendly sophomore effort ‘Left‘) Hope of the States were busy beavering away at far more left-field compositions. Take the 40 minute instrumentals of the Dust Rackets (leaked by the band with permission to distribute to others in CD form, but not online) or their formidable collection of B-sides that showed an experimental side brutally shorn from their ‘official’ material. Indeed, the name of this very blog is taken from a song released on their rare L’Ark Pour Les Enfants Terrible EP, of which only 500 were ever made and were given out to the first 50 people at each date of their Autumn 2004 tour. It’s a truly awesome collection of music, and I recall many happy hours listening to it as I revised for my Politics exams.

Their efforts were all in vain, of course. HOTS never really recovered from the death of original guitarist Jimmy Lawrence (who hung himself in their studio just after they recorded The Lost Riots) and ‘Left’ was a commercial and critical failure- which is a shame, because it wasn't too bad at all; Forwardirekton was one of the best things they ever did. The band played their last show at Reading 2006 before splitting amicably, with Sam subsequently forming a post-rock outfit “Troubles” and violinist Big Mike offering his services to Lightspeed Champion. I live in hope for a reunion someday- I know loads of people who’d love them to tour again- but even if they don’t, I’ll always have the memories of the four times I was lucky enough to see them.

And that’s not the whole story- I could mention the efforts they put into their physical releases (the Black Dollar Bills single coming in a hessian bag, L’Ark Pour Les Enfants Terrible hand-bound in twine), the evocative projection and video work from Type2Error and their still-active fan forum, which gave me my first insight into the often terrifying world of online musical communities. But for now, I'll leave you with the video to Black Dollar Bills:



and a link to their fan website, which has free downloads of their B-sides and rarities (including the song A Heart Can Stop A Bullet):

http://www.hopeofthestates.com/tempmedia.php

(Photo: BrokenWindows.org)