The emotive guitar work that starts off “Arcadia” really does more to establish a voice for House on a Hill than any type of melodramatic, over the top type of warbling could do for a comparable emo band. The band seems to be influenced heavily by the mid to late nineties emo acts, taking cues from acts like Jets to Brazil and the Appleseed Cast. Nowhere on “Ladyslipper” does the…
House of Fools plays a weird brand of emo music, where soulful vocals in a dreamy vein blend with an electronic sound scape. This is the case with the shambling “Better Part of Me”. At some points, it sounds as if there are two different songs going; luckily, House of Fools are like Bright Eyes when it comes to tying disparate elements together, and that is why the act is…
The first track on “Beta” is “Young And Reckless”, and this track shows that Hotspur is a band that blends together a newer rock approach with a slightly punky tempo to create something that is similar to acts like Three Days Grace. Along the way, Hotspur adds a little bit of the angular guitars (a la Franz Ferdinand and The strokes) that have been all the rage in rock, throwing…
Starting off “Last Train” with a rockabilly riff that would make Brian Setzer proud, Hotrod Boogie quickly gets tepid by riding this riff for an extended period of time, pushing their luck with over two minutes of what essentially is the same thing. The rockabilly stylings don’t end with “Hotrod Anthem”, but become ever more obvious during “Saturday Night Rock”. To be honest, the aforementioned tie to Brian Setzer is…
“Dix Dix” is a track that seems to recall the diverse, eclectic style of the early nineties; mixing parts of Jellyfish, Audioslave (The Chris Cornell-like vocals) and just a hint of the psychedelic movement, Hotpipes start out “The Deadly Poison” with a varied approach. Shifting their general sound considerably to reflect a new-found ska and reggae influence (while having a vocal arrangement similar to that of “Runaround”-era John Popper), the…
Hot Mute start out “She’s The Medicine” with a synth line that approaches that of a Journey. In fact, the entirety of the band blend together the aforementioned Journey, Asia, and The Cars into something that screams eighties rock even as the band cuts tracks in this day and age. “She’s The Medicine” has single aspirations, but the band is still a quarter step away from grabbing the brass ring.…
The opening track in “Exits and Trails” shows how intense Hot Cross can really be. The style of music that they play cannot be easily categorized. Of course, there are hints of Rise Against and Bauhaus present, but there are also hints of hardcore and metal that are strewn throughout tracks like the aforementioned “Exits and Trails”. The thing that Hot Cross first introduces to their listeners on “TRisk Revival”…
Aside from the annoying vocal, non-lyrical noises made by Patricia throughout the first track on “Bring It On!”, the Horrorpops make a strong case for the first major derivation from the too-similar sound achieved by all the upright-bass bands (Nekromantix, Tiger Army). There are still a number of similiarites that the Horrorpops have with the other two bands, especially since Kim Nekroman is doing eir part with the guitars on…
The chaos that Hopewell throws in from the onset of “ Hopewell & The Birds of Paradise”, including a number of middle-eastern sounding instruments, horns, and dreamy-pop vocals really is enough to make listeners’ ears perk up. “Calcutta” comes to the plate with a much more traditional and coherent assault on Hopewell’s listeners, but does not completely abandon the Bacchic nature of the first track. The ropey bass present on…
Honeyhander – Woolly Mannerisms / 2005 S.A.F. / 5 Tracks / http://www.honeyhander.com / http://www.safrecords.com / Reviewed 29 September 2005 The distended vocals of Marilyn Manson hide themselves behind an eighties-influenced, synthesizer-heavy sound for “Wear Our Your Muscles Maryâ€. The track is a little repetitious, as the disotortion on the vocals renders everything into a mush from no words can escape. This mixture is decidedly low-key, and really smacks more of…
