Wow, they have arrived!

Wow, they have arrived!

No Hope In New Jersey play Manchester's Dry Bar on 15 April 2005,
reviewed by R. Eric
Swanepoel

With none of the fumbling amateurism of less-experienced bands, No
Hope in New Jersey took up their stations on the stage and detonated: a
raucous squeal of perfectly controlled feedback and we were off, on a
rollercoaster ride piloted by the most consummate young rock quartet
you're likely to see. "Tight" doesn't do justice to this taut and
textured powerhouse unit. The opening yelp gave way to a throbbing and
rapid bass riff, guitarists and bass player so in synch on their
thicker strings that if they didn't look so much at ease you'd be
worried they'd fall off. Varied and layered, however, the arrangement
allowed space for each instrument to shine through. At times the choppy
and pulse-raising guitar faded out, leaving a crisp background of
cymbals and bass to offset the vocals to best effect. The ending was as
clean and sudden as the beginning. Adrenalised, we were hungry for
more, and more we got.

Front man and songwriter Andy Garratt, with his leather jacket and mop
of dishevelled dyed-blond hair, appeared almost apologetic as he
briefly announced the tunes. Clearly he's happy to let them speak for
themselves. They certainly do. With vastly more than three chords in
their impressive arsenal, one might suspect that these guys are not
your average garage band, and one would be right. All but the drummer
have degrees in music, and Andy met fellow guitarist and vocalist Steve
Marsden while they were both studying at Leeds. Steve's brother Craig
joined them on the drums and then, a more recent addition in late 2004,
was bass player, Nick Fowler, a stocky counterbalance to the angular
Steve. On stage, the two of them framed Garratt, the
boy-next-door-with-something-extra and the key ingredient in the
harmonious mix.

I could take you through each of the seven tunes of their short set,
but let me rather just tantalise you by giving you a few extracts from
my notes: "effortless appearance, clearly the fruit of real
behind-the-scenes effort", "anthemic blasts of bass power,
spine-tingling", no-nonsense changeovers", "spot-on blend of variety
and catchy riffs", "pedal-warped guitar harmonics", "sparkling
fingerboard work", "sophisticated head-bangers' delight", "hit
material: bound to become the era-evoking trigger of people's
memories", "Garratt prancing on his toes and kicking the bass drum".
Their triumphant spree of rock virtuosity ended with "Decline", a title
nicely in keeping with my opening big-dipper metaphor, but woefully
inappropriate when applied to this band's future.

Signed to Atlantic, their debut double A-sided single,
"Narcolepsy/Sober" (cat. NOHOPE01) has been well received. "Decline" is
to be released on 25 July 2005, and their debut album, "Steady Diet of
Decline", on 8 August 2005. For more information see href="http://www.nohopeinnewjersey.com/">their website.