Review: The Hourly Radio - History Will Never Hold Me (or) when seeing isn't always believing

Posted on 30 August 2006 | 2 Comments

Filed Under: Album Reviews, Indie Rock, Just Plain Rock

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NOTE: This is just me whining, but I didn’t get to see my little girl today and it fuckin’ sucks. That’s all.

So why are there so many great new bands popping up from Texas lately? If anyone has an answer for that one, let me know. One of those bands is The Hourly Radio. They have a decidedly un-Texas, British flavor that is dark, melodic, and not unlike (at times) Interpol and Editors. They also perfectly look the part. Their new album History Will Never Hold Me will be released on September 5th on Kirtland Records.

Strangely though, some of the songs on the album often remind me of Pennsylvania indie-pop-punk band Weston’s later albums, U2, or even Coheed & Cambria. Other songs have a dancier feel a la Savage Garden meets Joy Division. It is Dallas shoegazer pop rock if you will. With its soaring vocals layered with textured guitars, History Will Never Hold Me is delightfully atmospheric. Even the last track ends in a wash of sound similar in sound to something you might hear from Godspeed and/or Sigur Ros (I think I managed to cram enough name-dropping into this review to last me for awhile). Have a listen.

MP3 | The Hourly Radio – Deaf Ears History Will Never Hold Me
MP3 | The Hourly Radio – Crime Does Pay History Will Never Hold Me

Comments

1 Eric Grubbs - 739 days ago Dude, I can name for you plenty of bands from Texas worth checking out:

Dallas:
The Tah-Dahs
The Happy Bullets
Red Animal War
Saboteur
The Valentines
Pegasus Now
Record Hop
the pAper chAse

Houston:
Bring Back the Guns

Austin:
Golden Bear
The Channel

Those are just some of them . . .

2 Eric Grubbs - 739 days ago Oops -- I thought the question is "why aren't there so many great bands popping up from Texas lately?" Hourly Radio is good, but I still stand behind the bands I mentioned before.