Doing a complete U-turn on your sound is a very bold move for any band. Some simply incorporate new elements with each record before making a grand change, easing their devoted fan base in slowly, but Hundredth have decided to go against the grain on ‘Rare’. So much so, in fact, that if you didn’t know it was Hundredth, you would be forgiven for thinking it was a different band altogether. It takes a lot of guts to do and deserves a tip of the cap in its own right.
Known for powerful, if at times derivative, melodic hardcore, Hundredth had amassed a following based on their emotional, heavy arsenal. ‘Rare’, finds them swapping out breakdowns for lucid guitars that weave their way through ‘Vertigo’ and ‘Hole’. It might not be what you expect from them, but they are delivered with a degree of sincerity. Chadwick Johnson’s vocals are dripping in reverb, sung instead of screamed, floating over the haze of ‘Youth.’
Yet for all the news stories and comments of “hardcore band goes shoegaze,” it’s worth remembering that a delay pedal and dreamy song writing does not a shoegaze band make. This is an alternative rock album, and while it isn’t an overly bad one at that, ‘Rare’ ultimately feels like a bandwagon jump. Now, that’s not to say that Hundredth just looked at the popularity of Nothing, Turnover, etc. and thought “we’ll have some of that,” but many of these songs have been heard countless times before.
‘Rare’ lacks the originality to keep you invested for the duration. ‘Suffer’ plods its way through every cliché in the book, and ‘Shy Vein’ doesn’t deliver the melancholic mood that Hundredth are clearly trying to achieve. The quiet/loud formula becomes tiresome, and you know exactly what is coming next as they unsubtly build into thick walls of guitars. There are moments of wheat among the chaff, though: particularly the hook-driven ‘Chandelier’ and the incandescent hum of ‘Departure’.
While the Hundredth of old seems like a distant memory when you listen to ‘Rare’, it feels like such a swerve that they may as well be a new band. As mentioned at the start, if this had been drip fed over time, or incorporated into their original sound it would have made for a far more interesting listen. Instead, what we get is a forced record that sadly doesn’t linger after you’ve reached the end.
GLEN BUSHELL