There's been a bit of a renaissance of "punk" bands sending their CDs into Punktastic in recent weeks. We'd go months without receiving so much as an 'oi', and suddenly we've got press releases and pictures of more studded leather jackets than Tiger Woods has won golf tournaments. The Hope are the latest chancers to throw a CD our way and, despite having been together for less than a year, their first recordings are certainly better than the average. There's a Ramones-esque touch and more than a hefty dollop of a DIY ethic too, making this essential listening if you like your music to be raw, passionate and very British sounding (in origin that is).
Tracks like 'English, Proud and Left Wing' are unsurprisingly not homages to John Barnes or Stewart Downing, but hint at a political edge the band obviously want to try and ram down the listener's throat. Except the 'politics' are only a little better than GCSE standard - The Hope certainly need to do something more than cross their fingers or pray for an improvement in this area. Going for a political edge lyrically is almost a necessity with this style of music, so the 14-minutes this EP lasts flies by pretty quickly with a barrage of finger pointing and social commentary. 'Drug up The Kids' and 'Fallen' are two of the better songs, but all in all this sounds a bit samey to make any kind of lasting mark. The Hope are on the right lines, and their youth as a band (but not as men if the promo pic is anything to go by!) will mean they've got plenty of room to grow, but this is far from the finished article.
www.thehope.org.uk
Paul
