Promises – Hopeless Sons

A lot has been said about Australian hardcore quintet Promises – like the fact that they’ve existed for less than a year and already put out a label supported five-song EP.  And while one might expect it to sound like a scratchy, ill-envisioned demo, it sounds more like something from a group with a well-grounded footing.  Still, I can’t help but feel that their debut, Hopeless Sons, could have benefited from some greater time together.  It doesn’t feel rushed per-se, and not really one-dimensional, but it doesn’t do much for convincing me to care about Promises.

Now, before I start getting pelted with rotten vegetables and booed off stage, I’d like to say that Hopeless Sons certainly isn’t a write-off – quite the contrary really.  As far as mechanics go, Promises knows how to make the most of their five-member operation.  In fact, “No Story Left Untold” makes for a fairly compelling introduction.  The track opens with a very strong, guitar driven lead in, in which both Casey and Joe bounce back and forth minimally, ultimately picking up where each other leave off as they head towards a strong example of hardcore styled gang vocals (think Ruiner).  It’s big, effective, and actually got me pretty pumped for what lay ahead.

But then, somewhere along the line, they lost me.  Whenever they pipe up and belt as a group, I’m back in and have a grand time.  But when vocalist Zaca pipes up, my attention fades, regardless of concentration.  One time I even found myself counting the number of trees on the horizon as I looked out my desk window.  Now some may blame that on a wandering attention span, but I consider it a lack of engagement.  It’s an artist’s job to reach out and hook their audience, not my job to strain to pay attention.  From what I can tell, Zaca is a little too calculated.  Take a track like “Notes,” while it is instrumentally quite exciting, every word shares an inflection far too familiar in duration and expression to the last.  Even upon slowing their frenzied pace (as per “Forecast”) each word and phrase’s proportions remain too similar.  Even when their words of introspective wisdom sound good on paper, they don’t translate well given the style.

Overall, Hopeless Sons introduces a new band that might just be a little simpler than their initial confidence lets on.  To the band’s benefit, Promises demonstrates an undeniable chemistry, and there’s little ambiguity as to what they’re all about.  Still, other than the occasional moment of brilliance, Hopeless Sons plays it safe.  There’s enough here for a respectable listen, but nothing really commits to memory enough to award much staying power.  If their eventual full length stays on these tracks, it will still be listenable.  But if Promises takes some risks, it could be good – or even great.  Here’s to hoping for the latter.