A Hopeful Sign
🔀 SS #117 • Yellowcard, Hammock, Standards, Silent Planet, and Lola Dupre!
💽 » A Hopeful Sign, by Yellowcard & Hammock
pop-punk, post-rock • 9 songs • 48 minutes
For their 11th studio album A Hopeful Sign (2024), pop-punk veterans Yellowcard decided to join forces with post-rock band Hammock and recreate some of their old songs in a completely new and refreshing way. Instead of just being treated as some sort of remix album, they instead furnished striped-down versions of the songs so Hammock could add their own signature style, almost as if they were claiming it to themselves. My favorite thing about this collaborative project is that, instead of simply relying on songs from their iconic album Ocean Avenue (2003), A Hopeful Sign embraces almost their whole discography, which resulted in (re)introducing me to songs I wasn’t as familiar as some of the classic ones.
🎶 » Cosmos, by Standards
From their third studio album Fruit Galaxy (2024), Cosmos was my very first introduction to math-rock instrumental duo Standards, and what an introduction my goodness! I love how they turn such a complex genre like math-rock into a much more palatable and fun experience all over the place. If you like this song, please do yourself a favor and spin the whole album as soon as you can.
🎶 » Superbloom, by Silent Planet
From their fifth and well-received album Superbloom (2023), the closing title track is yet another great example of metal bands incorporating elements of shoegaze into their sound, especially through the guitar work and vocal melodies. A true highlight of the album, even if sounding different from the rest of it.
⚡️ Visual Inspiration
Lola Dupre is a Scotland-based collage artist and illustrator who works with paper and scissors, referencing the Dada movement of the early 20th Century and the digital manipulations of the present day. Check out her website or Instagram for more. Here are some favorites:
