Here to prove that emo isn’t a phase is the antagonistically enticing up-and-coming outfit, Hound, with their nostalgia-driven post-hardcore anthem, Ghost in the Grey.
The debut single is – almost – enough to tempt you to chop your hair into a side fringe and whip out the checked sweatbands, skinny jeans, and studded belts. Failing that, you’ll get to relive the glory days when Hawthorne Heights, Dashboard Confessional and Senses Fail reigned supreme in the alternative music charts, and it only felt like your internal sanity was failing instead of society as a whole.
Describing themselves as five 30-somethings with dodgy knees and broken dreams scarcely does their heavy pop-punk/emo mashup justice, especially with the sharp hooks, tight instrumentals and choruses that you will want to scream as though you’re performing your own exorcism. But it just goes to show how committed the powerhouse is to providing an escape from modern maladies and melancholy by creating pretension-less atmospheres in their music and at their live shows.
Ghost in the Grey riled up the airwaves after its debut on August 21. Stream it on Spotify.
Review by Amelia Vandergast