I hate indie rock. No, that’s not true. I hate how “indie rock” has become shorthand for some really generic, boring bullshit. There are a million “indie rock” bands in the world, and it is so hit or miss. My immediate opinion of twothirtytwo was that, honestly, they could have gone either way. To lazily classify the band as one thing or another, twothirtytwo are an indie/alternative band who are pulling some moves from post-punk. The good news is that they are pulling the right ones.
The Hope We Had is the latest in a series of singles and EPs the band has put out. Having done a bit of a crash course of their older releases, I can say confidently that It is also probably their best work to date. The music sounds better. The production is better. While they may have lost some of the “punk” from the post-punk, it still works beautifully. This is an EP, and band, that would fit into a Venn diagram of bands like Joy Division, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Interpol, and The Killers. While those comparisons would work for the music as well, they are especially true for the vocals. Andrew Clift has a voice that is deeper than the genre standard. It has a more baritone timbre to it. His vocal delivery plays perfectly for this.
As an overall record, The Hope We Had is accessible enough to play for fans of music played on alternative radio. It also has enough interesting things happening to appeal to your standard, snobby indie fan. It is very much a column A, Column B type record. The first three songs cruise along, and a pretty standard genre fare. Things really get interesting on titular track, “The Hope We Had.” That song really allows the entire band to flex their musical muscle. The guitar interplay is perfect, the rhythm section holds steady. There is even a pretty sweet solo in there. It is a song that shows how much the band is capable of.
There was a lot being stacked up against twothirtytwo. They are in a pretty packed genre, and needed to make something really great to stand out from the pack. They pretty much nailed it.
twothirtytwo
Rose Coloured Records
BandCamp
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**Record will be out on September 8, 2014**
Team Reasonable 