So it’s difficult second album time for Brighton’s leading noise-mob, and it seems ‘New Hopes, New Demonstrations’ picks up exactly where ‘This Is Where The Fight Begins’ left off back in 2007. This is no sophomore slump but not quite comeback of the year (they haven’t exactly gone anywhere, after all). This is a solid second release that secures TGOAT’s place at the top of their genre.
‘Moved As Mountains, Dreamt Of By Sea’ is a predictably brutal start to the affair, and Tom Lacey’s vocals are as piercing and chilling as we’ve come to expect. At times, he shows his softer, more melodic side (see ‘Canyons of Static’, ‘Good Old Fashioned Loss’) yet the band honourably manage to retain that grit, that visceral rock ‘n’ roll energy that shot them to fame in the first place.
Since the release of their debut, TGOAT have gone from underground nobodies to respected hardcore pioneers of their generation, something which their recent signing to Epitaph only confirms. With the extra time and money that such appreciation brings, the band upped sticks to Stockholm to record this follow-up and it’s evident such luxuries have been put to good use. The production on ‘New Hopes, New Demonstrations’ is a million times crisper than its predecessor, and the band have had the chance to experiment a little with their sound (is that a saxophone I hear on ‘Split The Atom’?) Crucially though, there’s no real departure, no unnecessary dilution of sound for mass market purposes – it’s more of what we want, more of what they’re good at, only better – it’s the record Ghost fans have been waiting for. Bands of the nation take note – this is how you follow up a blinding debut.
Andy R