“captur[es] the absurd change of focus required from athletes after calling it a day (ie. going from spending every minute optimising your running/kicking/punching and feeling existentially justified, to having nothing to do except feel worthless and existentially exposed)”

This self-titled follow-up is apparently the project’s swan song, which certainly adds a bit of weight to the boom-and-bust boxing tales Mrs. Hopewell favours. And boom-and-bust this certainly is, with the tagline to the seven-song release reading: “3 fighters, 2 suicide attempts, and 1 crate of military-grade morphine tucked in the back of a warehouse in Los Angeles”. Doesn’t get much more of a rollercoaster ride than that.

Although, if this is a rollercoaster ride then it takes place on a long and confusing track where all the climbs are in the past. Opener ‘Hitman’ sets the tone, telling of a retired pugilist who’s dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s of his life as if it’s almost done.

“I hung up the gloves once I
Told you I loved you
I called up my exes I told them the same
Take out two bottles of gin and vermouth
I fold up my note after signing my name
Tuck it into my pocket and twist off the caps
I’ll blackout one last time tonight”

However, no matter how much he teeters, the life doesn’t end there. The closing of the track finds him vomiting the poison and tearing up the note and dreaming of his love. ‘You Came to Me in a Lucid Dream’ follows with the closest we come to an upward spin, the narrator deciding that a hard life is better than no life (“It wells up / And pulls me down / Drags me out / Kicks me around / But it’s better than nothing / Than being underground”), and ‘Seven Month Twitch’ is a song on pining for old acquaintances, no matter how risky or dangerous (“You’re an itch I need to scratch”). ‘TBS… Very Funny’ sees doubt and regret return, a feeling of ever-expanding emptiness which colours everything it’s hollow shade of grey.

“Alone again and what’s the use
I’ll never love and that’s the truth
I’ll never find someone who gets me through
Did I ever love a single thing
A harpsichord or minor things
A game a man a drink or something else”

‘The Legend of the Pittsburgh Kid’ is flat and sad and sapped of life, the narrator drowning in a blend of nostalgia and regret, and ‘Dealer finds him trying to escape through distance or distraction or narcotic deadening. His view of the person he loves is so entwined with drugs it’s difficult to tell whether his longing is genuine or linked with further self-destruction, and the closing track does little to clear this up. ‘We’ll Win Cos We’re On God’s Side’, full of promises and relapses and remedies, is all about giving up – be it on drugs or life or even just giving up on the quitting itself, embracing the romantic tragedy of a hero careering towards the ground in flames.

‘”I promise Lou this will be my last hit and then I’m done for good
I told my baby I’m off this stuff
Our deal is understood”

“But maybe just one more”

“No, I am an American hero”‘

Fans of Alex G, Elvis Depressedly and The Hotelier should be mourning the end of Mrs. Hopewell’s lo-fi emo-pop. Take solace by grabbing the album now from the Mrs. Hopewell Bandcamp page.

The post Mrs. Hopewell – s/t appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Opener ‘Don’t Go’ is a veritable jam, a summer rock song which resists the temptation to hide beneath reverb, like a Best Coast track that has been trawled from beneath the ocean haze and held aloft like a trophy. ‘Baby, Please’ is more laid back, a humid dose of teenage love and longing, while ‘My Only One’ picks up the tempo again, the jangly guitars and percussion charting a drop in the carefree attitude, the downer when you’ve been on the beach too long and your head is fried:

“Can’t stand this time of day,
sunshine won’t go away,
keeps burning at my eyes and skin.
I want to disappear
your sentiment is clear,
I waited up all night for you.

Think about the days in the sand and the sun
think about the days when you were my only one.”

Closer ‘Somethin’ About You’ sees the mood refreshed and narrator rehydrated, a sultry night-time rendezvous where the beers are sweating as much as the lovers. “I knew it was something when you came to say hi” she sings, “I didn’t know why but there was something about you.” Here every glance is loaded, every sipped drink choreographed with romantic intention. Exactly how much these girls and boys mean to one another is unclear but in these hot days and nights it doesn’t seem to matter. As she sings on ‘Baby, Please’: “I just want to have some fun.”

You can buy CRUSHED now on a pay-what-you-can basis on the PONY Bandcamp page.

The post PONY – CRUSHED appeared first on Various Small Flames.