Record #633: Hundredth – RARE (2017)

With all of the punk and hardcore kids starting shoegaze bands these days (see: Nothing, Turnover, Pity Sex) and bands implementing more of that lush instrumentalism into their sound (see: Touche Amore, Title Fight), it was only a matter of time until a hardcore band became a full-fledged shoegaze band.

It might seem like a massive jump for a hardcore band to shift to the gauzy, dreamy lushness of shoegaze, but Hundredth does it in a way that still captures their punk fury.

For the most part, shoegaze is a pretty laid back affair. Despite the ear-splitting walls of guitar noise that typify the genre, the genre itself feels somnolent and dazed. Even that guitar noise is more enveloping than crushing—womblike and warm. My Bloody Valentine is one of the loudest bands in the world, but even with their volume, their music is more likely to induce a trance than a mosh pit. It evokes a number of moods and adjectives, but “urgency” isn’t one of them.

Yet from the opening gate, RARE rushes with an energy and, yes, urgency, that betrays their hardcore roots. While the guitars are obscured by reverb and modulation and the vocals are without any sort of exertion (barring some near-screamed background vocals here and though), the rhythm section must have missed the memo that they weren’t playing punk anymore.

If you’re thinking that seemed miscommunication between bandmates would lead to an uneven or poorly executed record, then I apologize for that impression. Because in a sea of would-be shoegazers, this record feels incredibly fresh, landing somewhere between straightforward shoegaze and Joy Division-esque post punk, with some traces of hardcore punk thrown in.

Vertigo” opens the record with a stabby clean guitar line and energetic beat before blooming into a wall of sound chorus. “Neurotic,” the lead single, encapsulates their unique take on shoegaze, exploding with crashing riffs and screamed background vocals. It’s clear from the first two tracks that while they’re drawing influence from a number of great shoegaze and post punk bands, they aren’t copping anything from anyone.

And as the record goes on, that ingenuity never runs out. From the odd chord changes in the end section of “Grey” to the crystalline guitar jabs of the closer “Departure,” Hundredth throws off any speculation that they’re just trend hopping to the new hot thing in hardcore. Even though “Down” opens with a riff that sounds all the world like “Dreams Never End” by New Order, that comparison only lasts until the rest of the instruments come in.

At the end of the day, every musician’s goal is to balance their influences with ingenuity. Too much of your influences’ sound, and you’ll sound bland. Too much experimenting, and it will sound alien and disorienting. The trick is to add enough nods to your inspirations while pushing forward to something fresh. And on RARE, Hundredth walks that line perfectly. It fully captures the nostalgia for shoegaze and post punk while offering a fresh take—even if they probably should have changed their name (they don’t even play their old hardcore stuff live anymore). But regardless, I expect this will be getting plenty of spins from me.