A symptom of becoming a slightly older, slightly more jaded gentleman, is an increasing struggle to find new bands to enthuse about from the word go.
Winnipeg’s Hope Atlantic are a wonderful exception to that accidentally and ill-conceived rule. ‘Mercy Street Choir’ is a mash up that lands somewhere in between the US rock and roll folk punk from the likes of the Gaslight Anthem and Fake Problems, and British pop rock upstarts like Futures and Francesqca – though that said, you don’t really need to like any of the aforementioned to find something to really enjoy.
There’s much to be said for the power of honesty in your songwriting, and the lyrics and piano arrangements give the band a great character.
‘Mercy Street Choir’ stands head and shoulders with the great debut releases of the year, most notable for the soaring chorus in ‘Bad Crash’ and the entirety of closer ‘Oklahoma’, and there’s plenty of people who’ll love Hope Atlantic on both sides of the pond.