Album Review: The Plague – Hope For The F.U.T.U.R.E

Rochester based ‘Futurepunk’ band The Plague released their debut full length album, Hope For The F.U.T.U.R.E, on October 13th via Recover Records, a label owned and operated by the band themselves. Frontman David Adam Monroe has a long history in the music business, having worked in production and A&R, as well as leading the band Third Estate who appeared on the Warped Tour. The Plague were created by Monroe with a view to creating something hopeful that would act to counter his self destructive tendencies.

Soul Coma‘s introduction sets the tone for the dystopian feel of the debut album by The Plague, from here on in this is an album that embraces emo, punk, alt rock, pop punk and new wave to create a soundtrack that somehow manages to simultaneously be both futuristic and retro. In addition to the array of influences there are dance floor filling beats present in the mix, the end result is that The Plague have created an album that is about as genre spanning as they come, but it feels like a band that is trying to be everything to everyone, and never seem to find their own identity.

Hope For The F.U.T.U.R.E is an electic album, and if you’re a fan of the likes of Starset, Falling in Reverse, Palisades and My Chemical Romance then I suspect this may well be an album that will make your year, but for me the over produced nature of Hope For The F.U.T.U.R.E detracted from the album. The pervading feeling is that The Plague‘s debut album is one that has been honed and polished down to the very last drum beat, resulting in a very clinical and sterile feeling full length that left me cold, despite the admirable level of creativity and energy contained in it’s grooves.

Hope For The F.U.T.U.R.E can be ordered on CD and digital formats via Recover Records here