Punk music has to some people come to mean taking a
political message and making it a statement in your music. If this simplistic
view of punk music is true, then Hostage Calm may be one of the most punk bands
ever. If there is one thing that this blog’s audience knows Connecticut’s Hostage
Calm, it is that the band takes a pro-gay marriage approach and makes a
political statement about it in their music, live shows, and other public
appearances. In case you didn’t know that about the band, now you understand
why several of their songs, including “May Love Prevail” from this album, Please Remain Calm, and “Ballots/Stones” from the band’s
self-titled album seem to be straightforward in their criticism of anti-gay marriage
activists, as well they should be.
The former is a biting vitriol focused on a person that Martin
refuses to, “believe that you’re a party to their, Cold, cornered, grey
aesthetic, Cracked pavement, pale, pathetic. In this crowd of battered lives, I
found eyes.” Martin is at his best when he is voicing angry dissent for what he
feels is a social wrong, and he just simply doesn’t do that enough on this
album.
Please Remain Calm is
an collection of songs that span the range of Hostage Calm’s ability level as
songwriters and musicians. It’s a uniquely diverse and well-crafted album deserving
of being released by one of the best labels around in Run For Cover, and produced
by legendary punk producer J. Robbins, who has done work for Jawbreaker,
Against Me! And Modern Life is War, amongst others.
“I Woke Up Next to A Body” stands out as an album highlight,
starting with a few simple guitar chords before exploding with vocalist Chris
Martin soaring over top of a crash of drums and chaotic guitars. “I woke up
next to a body, it had me feeling like a sinner on Sunday. It had me feeling like
your father would hate me,” he sings in the album’s best chorus.
“The “M” Word” might be the song’s worst song, as the
corniness of the song’s lyrics and the Chris Martin’s lilting vocal delivery, spits
in the face of the serious subject matter. The song is about a girl named Meredith,
who is going to marry her abusive boyfriend. But the chorus makes such a petty
statement that it’s easy to forget this fact. “Meredith, do you really want to
marry him, This could end up in an embarrassment, and you’ll have to keep his
name.” This is a major misstep for the usually on point lyrics provided by
Martin. Trying to save the song, the orchestral elements and the beautiful harmonies
from the other members of the band provide at least a listenable background
distraction. The song also features a pretty epic trumpet solo put forth as
well.
The album closes out with a veritable one-two punch of “Closing
Remarks” and “One Last Salute.” While “Closing Remarks” stays close to home as
an undeniably Hostage Calm-esque song, it still succeeds as a highly rewarding
listen, but the true gem is the five and a half
minute genre-bending album closer “One Last Salute.” 60’s pop, punk,
pop-punk, Americana, they’re all present and accounted for here, and Martin and
co. have never sounded better in the process. If you are a fan of Hostage Calm
at all, you will love how Please Remain
Calm closes out.
Bottom Line: In an election year especially, an album like Please Remain Calm is a welcome addition
the punk canon, as it attempts to make listeners look critically at their world
around them and make their own commentaries. If it succeeds in that one aspect
of it existence, then Please Remain Calm
is already a success. But it is also an enjoyable pop-punk release with
soothing harmonies and though-provoking lyrics that deserves to be listened to
regardless of political standing.
Recommended if You Rock: Rise Against’s “Make It Stop
(September’s Children)”, Make Do and Mend- Everything
You Ever Loved, The Menzingers’ On The Impossible Past
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