Review Summary: Bathed in the light, make it bright.
Do any of you remember Hundredth? No, not the Myrtle Beach quintet that appeased the connoisseurs of melodic hardcore during the early-to-mid 2010's with the competent – if somewhat inconsequential – three album run of
When Will We Surrender,
Let Go &
FREE. I'm talking about the band that seemingly beat everybody to the punches with the Shoegaze-worship of
Rare from nearly a decade ago. Indeed, this musical metamorphosis was practically unheard of at the time: was it even reasonable for Hundredth to still carry the same moniker with a genre swap this drastic? It's almost funny now to consider the idea of a project like
Rare resulting in some sort of whiplash from listeners, now that practically every single band in the rock-and-metal-circuit have all decided that riffing off of Deftones' musical blueprint is the way to go (Loathe, Thornhill, Boston Manor, Fleshwater, Moodring and many others send their regards). And yet, even with their newfound wings on
Rare and 2020's excellent and even more dream-pop influenced
Somewhere Nowhere, Hundredth have felt like little more than an occasional blip on the musical radar, with minimal amounts of touring and social media presence in the wake of these albums.
In this sense, 2025's
Faded Splendor feels like a bit of an anomaly. At only 10 tracks and 34 minutes, it's a far leaner offering with much of the fat from
Somewhere Nowhere having been all but trimmed entirely. It also feels like less of a continuation of the band's sound and instead opts to position itself just about right in the middle of
Rare and
SN. Perhaps most notably is the vocal performance of Chadwick Johnson, which has been subjected to far less layering and post-production here and emanate a much clearer tonality throughout. You'd also be forgiven if the cadence in his vocals on tracks like singles "Darkside" and "Waste" bring to mind none other than Brandon Flowers from The Killers – yet another influence the band proudly wears on their sleeves throughout
Faded Splendor. Yet even in spite of their obvious inspirations, Hundredth still sound and feel wholly unique throughout
Faded's runtime. The swirling Cyberpunk synthesizers and droning guitars on opener "Curve" sound absolutely heavenly and coalesce in an earworm chorus that's instantly memorable. Subsequent "Big Love" is a razor-sharp continuation of
Somewhere Nowhere's occasional indie-rock coating; stripping away some of the synth-passages for a more labored soundscape. Then there's "Glimmer", perhaps Hundredth's most accomplished song to date. Sugar-sweet vocal melodies and a glitchy synth motif gradually spiral into a gargantuan chorus that borders on breathtaking. There’s just something so undeniably
slick in how Chadwick and co bounce between plush ballads like “Dazzle” and sizzling, 16th-note hi-hat beats on pulsating rock tunes found in “Blur” and “Blitz”.
My main gripe is that I wish that some of these tracks just had a bit more... body to them? A lot of the songs here on offer just seemingly end abruptly before they have a chance to truly flourish, resulting in a bit of a fragmented listening experience where songs start and stop with no real cohesion between them – more like a strong selection of singles slotted in on top of one another. Some listeners may also mourn the lack of
Somewhere Nowhere’s unmistakable and picturesque atmosphere as
Faded’s all killer-no-filler approach leaves little room for any musical world building. Even so,
Faded Splendor is a rock-solid addition to Hundredth’s ever-so-fascinating discography. The band’s ability to stylishly blend their many disparate musical influences occasionally culminates in something truly, truly special, even if not every swing the band attempts results in a vigorous homerun. Let's just hope we won’t have to wait another five years to see them try it once more.
