If there's a Godspeed You! Black Emperor fan who has ever pondered what the band would sound like if they applied vocal melodies to their song structures - and Lord knows there ought to be - Hope of the States bears the answer to that quandary.
This mysterioso chamber-rock sextet from the UK bears many similarities to Godspeed, their more classically oriented counterpart. Their tones are nearly as dark; they use many of the same march rhythms; and they present a broad instrumentation that occasionally builds to a complex cacophony. In fact, if vocals are left out, the Hope of the States will fool many first-time listeners into asking, "Is that Godspeed?" or "Is that Explosions in the Sky?"
The groups use a prolonged vibratory effect on electric guitar that is distinct to the genre. The style of play creates the same effect as a single pitch briskly stroked on a violin or cello. With Hope of the States, there is more sampling for instrumentation, like the canon of harp runs at the end of "1776."
The structures are more like those of typical rock tunes, as the group holds back from anything drawn out longer than seven minutes. The crescendos therefore are more compact and noticeable.
Samuel Herlihy is the bringer of that which distinguishes the two: voice. He has the typical British rock voice associated with Radiohead, Muse and Coldplay. The 18- to 25-year-old demographic has licked that plate clean several times over, but Hope of the States offers more gravy for the Godspeed stuffing.
They might be from the UK, but their lyrical content deals in metaphors drawn with US history. With songs entitled "George Washington," "The Red, The White, The Black, The Blue" and "1776," this connection is rather lucid. Herlihy is clearly not referring directly to the American Revolution when on "George Washington" he sings: "I am burning in a smoke-choked house/ But tonight it's empty of warm glows and whispered goodnights/ Riot, disorder, set the banks on fire."
He gives a more profound and interesting perspective in "Goodhorsehymn."
"I could plaster on a fake smile/ And ruin my life in style/ I'll build my home with useless kids/ With all the ones that didn't fit/ Fill your heart with love today/ And tell us all it's ok."
He sings with deliberation that allows the soft tone to still resonate with power.
Hope of the States is certainly, to use an atrocious phrase, "the next big thing" in ambient rock, math rock, British rock or chamber rock. They borrow a bit too heavily from a few too many heavy-hitters, but the product is nonetheless excellent.
