Hope Street – The ‘Rebel Hearts’ EP.
Hope Street – Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Cover photo credit: Rachel Barrett Photography – Click Here.
October this year saw the second EP from Perth Punks Hope Street, a band taking their collected influences and impressive stage-sharing history into the studio and channeling it into emotive and raw Punk-Rock thats hard-hitting from the the off.
‘On To The Next One’ is driven and subdued simultaneously in its verses, reminiscent of the Chris Wollard’s side of Hot Water Music in its thoughtful Punk-Rock.
The melodic guitar work contrasts well with the deep tin-like bass rumble and increasingly gruff vocals, creating an aesthetic you expect to continue.
‘This Is Our Home’ channels the cited influence of The Bouncing Souls in a more upbeat fashion but not without that Hot Water Music-ism once more. This second track actually reminded me of a Melbourne band by the name of Daybreak so if you get spare minute, you know what to do.
The anthemic nature of Hope Street by this point on the release has entrenched itself and is begging to get the blood really pumping, in perfect timing for the sharp barrage of ‘No Standing’ with its precision guitar leads and old-school Melodic Hardcore distaste. ‘No Standing’ sits as a highpoint at this stage and in general and shows the band’s ability to hold continuity within a release but also to add variety to the proceedings.
Hope Street may be a Punk-Rock band but if you dig a little deeper into the plucking, percussion and history, an admiration for Hard Rock is placed behind the scenes. Why is this relevant? Well, ‘Harlots and Hangovers’ is the union between Hope Street’s adoration for Punk and Hard Rock flirtation, with a welcome nod to the masters of such a union, The Bronx.
Rebels Hearts starts to remind you at this stage that its only a six track EP and you’re not too pleased with this revelation, but you have to continue as ‘Diamonds and Deception’ beckons you.
This fifth instalment oddly reminded me of both Rites Of Spring and Iceage for a split second before the now familiar gruff-Punk of Hope Street takes over once more in another memorable track to add to this six-pronged hook.
Lyrically speaking, the songs of this EP are stoic in their honest reality and are indeed very well written but in tradition of saving the best until last in this respect, it all comes to an end in the final and acoustic track, ‘Medication Generation’.
‘Get off your high horse, don’t think we don’t know, what you do an what you say, the lies we hear everyday – Sold us out for a pay-check, now the idiots have an outbreak, medication generation, we’re too stupid to fight back’
‘We are the ones you have to look out for, we are the ones with no control’
‘Wake up and take a look around, we are the ones that lost out’.
‘We will dance to our own song, we are the ones, we are the ones‘
Normally you’d expect a release like this in laymans terms to – “go out with a bang”, but as the the five compositons prior do a perfectly good job of such, the chilled and winding down ‘Medication Generation’, despite its obvious and serious notions, serves this purpose and closes a Punk-Rock EP I have bookmarked for pay day.
Find the band below:
- Visit the band on Facebook and Instagram for updates.
- The bands music can be found on bandcamp.
- Merch and hard copies can be found via BigCartel.
#StayFresh
