Album Reviews
Out now on Thousand Islands Records and Pavones Records is The Last Mile’s sophomore album, ‘Holding On To Hope.’ It finds the Canadian band building on the sound they established on their previous releases and taking things to the next level with the help of long-time collaborator Jesse Gander (Brutus, Japandroids, Daggermouth).
The Last Mile has been dubbed too hardcore for the punk kids and too punk for the hardcore kids. And listening to the new album, that still makes sense. The band constantly veers between frenetic hardcore energy and more melodic punk rock stylings, often in the same song. And then there’s a song like the life-affirming ‘Anything’ that is completely its own thing. While Chris Snelgrove can be heard on most of the songs oozing positivity with his gravelly shout, Stephanie Cole handles vocals on ‘Hot Box’ and ‘No Never,’ adding yet another dimension to the album’s dynamics. There are a couple of moments on the album (opening track 'Give It A Name', 'Broadstrokes') where the vocal melodies feel oddly out of place with the music, but they are few and far between.
Clocking in at just over half an hour, the ten songs that make up ‘Holding On To Hope’ don’t wear out their welcome. Still, for a relatively short album, it’s surprisingly rich in ideas. All of which work.
Holding On To Hope tracklist:
- Give it a Name
- Farewell For Now
- Water Mary
- Anything
- Hot Box
- Carry The One
- No Never
- Broadstrokes
- Written in Water
- Spun
Lacking the talent to actually play in a band, Tom decided he would write about bands instead. Turns out his writing skills are mediocre at best as well.
