Hope & The Husbands – (Demo EP)
Hey TNB readers/listeners, it’s your favorite music enthusiast, Jimmy Thrash here, freshly emerged from his padded cell (actually I escaped) to help out the boys with a new music review of another wicked cool Boston band. Thanks to Slimedog and Andy for entrusting me with such a very important task and I hope that the Slime-miester’s rectum gets rectified and the Bang-miester’s cranium gets corrected real soon.
Speaking of hope, the band I’ll be reviewing today is coincidentally called Hope & The Husbands. They’re an awesome 4 piece band with a dynamic lead singer named Hope Zimmerman, who reminds me of a cross between Exene Cervenka and Kim Deal. The rest of the band (The Husbands) is made up of, the jarring guitar riffs of Chris Pirro, the solid bass rumblings of C. J. Smith, and the very fantabulous smashings by the infamous Jaymz Purtle (Jaymz, how many bands are you in now?).
Musically I’d say Hope & The Husbands straddles the fence between, punk, hardcore and indie (Oops, did I just say indie on TNB, sorry dudes). Their punk/hardcore influences are along the lines of a band like X and maybe even the Dictators. While their indie influence pushes me to think of The Pixies, very accessible, but not nearly as cookoo (at least not yet).
Last month, guitarist Chris dropped by one of our TNB events at the Midway Cafe and left the boys with a newly cut demo EP of 5 killer tracks they just recorded (with the help of awesome Midway soundman, T. J.). The tracks are also available on both their reverbnation and facebook band profile pages. I’m gonna play you the tracks right here, right now, and add some accompanying text that is sure to amaze and confuse you.
The first track called, “The Scene”, starts out simple enough with an up beat bass/drum duet that kind of lulls you into a mesmerized glaze. But then, like a cold splash of water to the face, in enters a rockin’ guitar riff that jars your senses and sets the stage for the vocals that follow. Hope has a nice gravel-ly quality to her voice.
[audio:https://www.thrashnbang.com/wp-content/music/01 The Scene.mp3|titles=The Scene]The second track called, “Bristol”, is a duet featuring Hope and C. J. (I think). An up tempo number that could easily be visualized as being performed by either Excene/John Doe or Kim/Black Francis.
[audio:https://www.thrashnbang.com/wp-content/music/02 Bristol.mp3|titles=Bristol]The third track called, “Backyard Boner” is something I’m quite familiar with. Ever since using Cialis, my woodies are not just confined to the backyard. In fact, I have one right now that’s been with me for the last 3 days. Cool tune. It has a nice franticness about it. Kinda like my boner.
[audio:https://www.thrashnbang.com/wp-content/music/03 Backyard Boner.mp3|titles=Backyard Boner]The fourth track called, “Networking”, is a short little ditty that chronicles the inner workings of modern day technology driven dating. Something to put that boner to good use.
[audio:https://www.thrashnbang.com/wp-content/music/04 Networking.mp3|titles=Networking]The last track is called, “California Bruises” and is my favorite tune of the bunch. At times the music reminds me of an old go-gos tune. Hope’s vocals provide some very interesting inflections.
[audio:https://www.thrashnbang.com/wp-content/music/05 California Bruises.mp3|titles=California Bruises]Well, there you have it. As you can hear, Hope & The Husbands are a very cool Boston band with a lot to offer. I can’t wait to hear more material, hopefully, very soon. In the mean time, be sure to check them out live in a club near you. I have seen them several times and they put on an awesome show.
Thanks again Slimedog and Andy for letting me do this. By the way, you guys really suck!
( … just kidding)
(Jimmy Thrash)
