Hands Like Houses
-Anon.


3.0
good

Review

by Maximo USER (1 Reviews)
October 12th, 2018 | 136 replies


Release Date: 2018 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Hands Like Houses depart from their sound in a hundred different directions with varying degrees of success, but their sound remains strongest when rooted in the sound they’ve developed since their formation.

I’ve been enamoured with Hands Like Houses ever since they released their electrifying sophomore record, Unimagine, in mid-2013. The album incorporated great post-hardcore and alt-rock elements for a fairly unique and refreshing sound within the typical ‘Risecore’ field they were grouped in with. Now, two albums later and having departed from Rise Records in favour of Hopeless Records, Hands Like Houses look to redefine themselves by trying... everything?

Let me be clear, I’m all for experimentation and expansion of sound, but considering how different the four singles released from the album before release, I was a little worried that Anon. would sound a little uneven in its sound. After all, with only 10 tracks and a total 32 minute runtime, some level of consistency is required in order to create a coherent ebb and flow within an album of such a short length.

Hands Like Houses haven’t particularly quelled those fears with Anon., but it succeeds in more ways than I imagined it would. The pop-inspired hooks and grungy 90s riffage work at least moderately well, but herein lies the issue with the record. Individually, everything here works (for the most part), but as a cohesive unit, the album falls apart.

Anon. to me communicates a lack of focus in writing for the band. It genuinely feels like the band are trying to write about five different albums at once, and it feels horrifically jarring at times. This album frequently jumps between several styles with varying degrees of success (and failure), and this is communicated immediately from the start; jumping from a modern anthemic pop-rock number with Kingdom Come, to a dull, uninspired grunge number with Monster (potentially being the worst song the band has ever written), immediately to a Jane’s Addiction-esque alt-rock track with Sick. The record immediately emphasises its lack of, ironically, any emphasis whatsoever, and this is a feeling that is never rectified throughout the album.

HLH seem to want to have their cake and eat it with this record, going only half-in-half-out with every sound they attempt, and the problem with this is everything here, as stated before, works individually, but it’s begging for a modicum more focus or at least a bit more time to establish a core sound around some other ideas. However, at only 10 tracks and 32 minutes, it really doesn’t have enough time to do that.

This album certainly has its high points though, and for as much as I’m not being kind to it I genuinely do enjoy a lot of what they’re doing here. They may have lost the explosive element that made their past albums feel so special to me, but a lot of the new ideas they’re putting forth work. The dark, grungy Black is potentially one of the best songs this band has ever made. It’s gritty, edgy and it works really well, and I can say that for most of this record. Songs like Overthinking, Half-Hearted, Tilt and Bad Dream are genuinely really enjoyable. The lyrical content might not be as strong as past records, but the heart of the band is still present on these tracks.

Production-wise the album is pretty great, too. While it lacks the explosive punch of their past work, it’s gritty and rough when it needs to be, and vice versa with their more polished pop-rock sound that they’re pushing on the record. The mix is decent, everything works as it needs to, and while there’s nothing outstanding (aside from Black, which has fantastic production), nothing is truly wrong here.

I believe if they had stuck with a single sound and expanded on it, instead of (sorry for being a bit crass) pussyfooting around exploring new sounds, this could have been a really great album, and you can hear that in most of these songs. But instead, we’re left with a collection of decent to uninspired/outright bad singles.

Anon. is not a truly bad album by any means, but it lives up to its name. It has no true identity or consistency, rather relying on a sequence of varyingly successful sounds that play more like a mixtape or a showreel than a coherent album.


user ratings (128)
2.7
average


Comments:Add a Comment 
maximomckinnon
October 12th 2018


88 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

first review on sputnik boys, tear me apart

theNateman
October 12th 2018


3809 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Solid review, man. pos.



I agree with almost every point here. This band has gone from amazing to decent. Solid and above average, nothing more.

dmp3131
October 12th 2018


1361 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

I don't think anything on here is bad, at worst there are a few average songs. I found myself really enjoying this overall though

Toondude10
October 12th 2018


15263 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

I definitely enjoy this album more than most. Not as good as Dissonants but a lot of fun.

theNateman
October 12th 2018


3809 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Overthinking, Black, and Through Glass all slap hard.

GreyShadow
October 12th 2018


7319 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

This feels light years better than Dissonants as an album and this overall just sounds so much fresher. Only tracks I'm not a fan of are the 3 first singles. The rest is pretty good. I'm loving Through Glass.

Digging: Touche Amore - Spiral in a Straight Line

GreyShadow
October 12th 2018


7319 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

It's still so wild to me that these guys thought that two albums of post-hardcore was enough and then never again.

maximomckinnon
October 12th 2018


88 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

I absolutely enjoyed this overall, Monster is the only track I'd consider genuinely bad, but like Nateman said, they've gone from great to just kinda decent, unremarkable



which is a shame because I adore everything else they've done

Toondude10
October 12th 2018


15263 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

I actually really like Monster, I understand it's not exactly what people want from a HLH album but I still consider it to be probably the most fun track out of the entire album. Call me crazy, but I think this alt-rock side suits them well.



Though I'm surprised people don't like Tilt, it's practically feels like something ripped off of Dissonants.

momentsofclarity
October 12th 2018


618 Comments


debut or gtfo

momentsofclarity
October 12th 2018


618 Comments


debut or gtfo

dmp3131
October 12th 2018


1361 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

I think Tilt is better than anything off Dissonants, and I really like that album too. The instrumentals on this may not be as progressive or experimental but they still have a ton of heart.

TheSpirit
Emeritus
October 12th 2018


30304 Comments


What a waste of talent

Toondude10
October 12th 2018


15263 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

'Bad Dream' reminds me of Brand New's '451', it's got similar songwriting and structure

dmp3131
October 12th 2018


1361 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

When it first came on I seriously thought something happened and I was listening to Brand New haha. Also the melody of Black is like Gasoline by Seether.

Feather
October 12th 2018


10534 Comments


So which of their past releases is this most similar to ... the older the better. If it is anything like Disonants I think I'm over this band

dmp3131
October 12th 2018


1361 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Wouldn't really call it similar to anything, but it heads in the direction of Dissonants more than Ground Dweller. I think most people who listen to this with comparisons to their previous work will be disappointed. Until I considered it a whole different sound and direction I couldn't get into the singles.



I suggest checking Tilt.

Lucman
October 12th 2018


5537 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5 | Sound Off

I enjoy this a good deal more than Dissonants.

Feather
October 12th 2018


10534 Comments


hmmm I'll give it a go I suppose, thanks

Toondude10
October 13th 2018


15263 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

this is very much different than their previous albums, but Tilt does sound like something right out of said albums



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