Hopewell

Purveyors of the new psych-rock scene, Hopewell has been blending vintage fuzz pedal jams with their early space rock and shoegaze roots for over a decade, their 2001 full-length, The Curved Glass, being the perfect, noisy bridge between the epic psychedelia of ‘90s acts like Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev and a newer generation of bands that include Dead Meadow and Serena-Maneesh. Now back with their fifth album, Good Good Desperation effortlessly slips from cacophonous dueling piano passages, à la Stravinsky, to the Hammond-driven roots rock of The Basement Tapes, while creating something uniquely its own. From the opening vocal harmonies of "Preamble," which takes cues from Bach and Debussy, to the CAN-inspired two-drummer tribal attack of "Island," listeners are confronted with expansive sonic images of a band's travels and conflicts. Good Good Desperation inhabits a world where “The Album” is not a lost art, and invites listeners on a journey from dirty downtown New York City scenes to blissful Californian deserts.

The album could easily be considered Hopewell’s Meddle or Tago Mago chapter in a lengthy history that includes countless releases, opening for My Bloody Valentine, working with producer Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips), recording a Peel session at Abbey Road, and playing Reading and Leeds Festivals -- all without the help of a large label, manager or booking agent.

Hopewell also played at...

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