Music
Press
- XFM - “...at last we have a UK Indie band who are interesting”
- Hope&Social have become a regular feature on BBC 6 Music.
- BBC Radio 1 - Greg James – “I didn’t realise who they were… I Really like…!”
- “Beautiful” - BBC6 Music “Tom Robinson’s “Introducing”
- BBC Raw Talent - “A Great Band” - Katy Noone, Producer
- Alamo Music
“Brilliant” – Album of the Week - 9/10 The Music Magazine
“Hope & Social seem to be on a mission to lead us all on the path to redemption” – 3/4 – Manchester Music
“A cracking debut, beautifully realised and produced” – Subba Culture
“…an incredible sound, all of their own…” – 4/5 – The Beat Surrender
- Hope & Social
The Bar Academy is filled with passionate, heart warming, uncynical melodies, that call to mind (as we've said before) the work of Elbow and Radiohead. And they play with a similar authority, humble grace, and humour. Indeed their confidence is quite staggering for a band so early on in their careers, the result of 3 years of hard slog on the live circuit.
Possibly why Simon's between song banter is balanced just right, a mixture of warm humour, tales of the road and appreciation for their fans. To Rich, Ed, Jason and Ash, especially Rich's pitch perfect backing vocals, we apologise for not drawing enough attention to you, your time will come. But in Mr Wainwright you have a stunning set of vocal chords. That boy can sing, and if in the years to come he's not acknowledged as one of 21st Century Britain greatest rock vocalists then we're going to pack it all in and take up opera. If you don't believe us then go here.
The eight songs are over far too quickly and at the end, with a final, engaging touch, the band applauds the audience back.
Hope & Social are playing at a level that far outstrips the claustrophobic confines of Islington. They have the determination to become a long lasting treasure, whilst our current crop of spikey guitar bands lose favour with the NME and run out of ideas. They may not be re-writing the rule book, but they are amongst the very best at what they do. Simon's plea that we spread the word is duly noted. - Londonist
- Leeds Music Scene - “Bold, Proud and Eclectic”
- Teletext - “heartfelt elegant backing behind passionate vocals”
- Subba Culture - “Hooray! A cracking debut, beautifully realised and produced and some gorgeous vocals ... there’s nothing to dislike here.”
- The Independent’s Tim Parry – “one of the top five live bands to see in the UK”
- NME – “brilliant”
- The Independent Music Quarterly - article on the set-up of Alamo Music and DIY music.
- Leeds Guide - "…unashamedly emotional…"
- DIS – "Lead singer Simon Wainwright has a voice to die for"
- Manchester Evening News – “…of the best up-and-coming acts around...Tuneful, music backed up by a slick professional performance. Vocalist Simon Wainwright has a tender, earnest, expressionate voice”
- Leeds Music Scene - “A fresh invigorating sound”
- Hope & Social
- www.themusicmagazine.co.uk - Album of the Week. 9/10. “Brilliant, The spirit of great stripped-down and world-weary albums like 'Tonight's The Night' is alive and well with Hope&Social, and this brief, tantalising snapshot of a talented band in its infancy captures them in fine form”
- Frogcast the Podcast - "We can't say enough nice things about them as people and also as musicians. Really recommended, excellent live" - www.22forty.co.uk/frogcastthepodcast
- Entertainment Weekly - “Download this… smash-your-head-into-the-wall brilliant”
- AOL - “Ones to watch"
- Leeds Music Scene – “A fresh invigorating sound”
- The Hype Machine – “A new album is on the way, a new tour, the band, “Hope&Social” are offering their first new song for free. Get it right here, and spread it if you like it... I know I do!”
- Sound of Violence – “omnipresent and perfectly proportioned arrangements”
- New Noise - "(Hope&Social) …kick out their jams with a gorgeous, drunken leer- like".
- Hope & Social
Discography
Hope & Social EP released in July 2008
Forthcoming album due for release Spring/Summer 2009
Photos
Bio
They talked of Springsteen and Arcade Fire. They talked of Astral Weeks and Bowie. And they talked about making something that matters. Distilling the sound of classic albums thirty years ago brought bang up-to date; part call-to-arms, part lament: dark but exalted - brutally frank guitars Married with soaring and honest vocals. Add an ancient 'knees-up' piano and a '73 Rhodes, and you're getting close. We've seen the new H&S; still unmistakable but with more depth, and more spark, more calm and more storm. One of those bands you should see before you die.” – The Duchess, York
......life, for Hope & Social, started one drunken night in the Grove pub in Leeds in April 2007; a place indicative of modern England: a traditional pub hemmed in on all sides by Leeds’ garish glass giants and the cement palaces of new-wealth. Hope & Social wanted to create something to reflect this, something more than just a set of songs but a statement on English culture. Singer Simon Wainwright reflects:
“Sieved from the malaise of many a drunken rant we had some kind of idea of what we wanted to talk about: of Englishness and home and what it means to we five. Of simplicity and customs, and of God. ‘If it feels good turn it up’ / Fender Champ / a long list of drum fills / a child's accordion... All these things were thrown in the pot and we melded a selection of songs that I have never felt so excited about. They are real and they are us.”
Since forming, they have recorded and released their debut EP and finished an album, played key dates around the UK including headline sets at the Barfly and Water Rats in London. Their current EP, (July 08) received some fantastic reviews including the accolade of “Album of the Week” status from www.themusicmagazine.co.uk and plays on 6 Music as H&S have become a regular feature on Tom Robinson. Channel M TV in Manchester also features on H&S, devoting a full 30 minute show, a “Hope and Social Special” to the band. See it here:
www.hopeandsocial.com/media/default.asp#videos
Hope & Social are currently working on videos for the album release as well as planning March and June 09 tours, including televised dates on Jack Daniels’ illustrious “JD Set”.
Links
