Hundred Reasons
Kill Your Own
V2/Shock


From the soaring chorus of opening track Broken Hands, Hundred Reasons make it abundantly clear that on today's menu there is nothing but anthemic, melodic rock. Rising from the ashes of Britpop a decade back - along with the likes of Muse, Coldplay and Symposium - Hundred Reasons have an eye on the American music scene and a foot planted firmly in stadiums.

That's not to say they'll be covering Kickstart My Heart anytime soon: their British pedigree demands there be a vaguely subtle quality to everything they do. The production, for example, is no-nonsense; and it needed to be. There's no reason to do any more than get the music down and make it shine: the songs themselves sound as big as it is.

The clever running order of the tracks means 'Kill Your Own' retains the listener's attention for the whole journey. After the immediacy and sonic hugeness of Broken Hands and the title track; Destroy, The Chance and instant sing-a-long The Perfect Gift take the energy down a few notches as the album settles into a groove.

Live Fast, Die Ugly suddenly blasts out of the speakers; two-and-a-half minutes of unexpected fury that brings to mind defunct locals The Killchoir Project. A few tracks later, A Better Way? plays out with the same aggressive approach, its percussive verses leading to a big, throat-shredding chorus.

It ends on a more thoughtful note, but those blasts of energy give it a real lift and they're absolutely essential to its success as an album. While unlikely to ever set the charts on fire outside of the UK, Hundred Reasons have delivered an unashamedly rock record and a good one at that. What's not to like?

Wade Howland