One Hundred Hurricanes

60 Years Under The Stars

One Hundred Hurricanes are from Morgantown, West Virginia and this is their first album which like lots of first albums is full of great songs. They get years to write them, especially if they are sat by the roadside.

Not every album can be original, that said, there is a fine line between being influenced by your heroes and performing karaoke. This album certainly mimics the UK white boy’s play guitars post Strokes generation for at least a good third. There are a number of songs on here that could easily fit onto a Strokes/Arctic Monkeys/View album which in itself wouldn’t make me dash out and buy it but……they could easily be singles off any of the albums rather than fillers and secondly at 15 songs long there is a clear development to the songs through the second half of the album.

Their website says that they worship The Beatles, it does seem to be a fashionable thing to say this year but a least you can hear it as an influence rather than an Oasis style cover version.

It’s a very simple formula verse, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, chorus, and bridge, choruses, that’s always a winner in our house. As such it may prove to be a throwaway album rather than a play forever favourite but right now its way too catchy for that. And then you get the guitar solo’s, yeah I know I’m not supposed to like those bits, but when they fit so perfectly without dominating the tune you start to realise that maybe these chaps know what they’re doing.

I prefer the slower tunes which take a clear step over the ‘this is us line’. Lead singer Michael Lee Withrows voice heads towards the too many Marlborough and JD’s end of the scale so much so he could do a great version of Handbags and Glad rags if he fancied it.

Stand out tunes are the title track, Snake and Walking Away, for a band that have only been together for a couple of years they sound like the real deal . You can only get the album on import from the bands website but its well worth the fuss. Less than a tenner and delivered from the US in a week.

mp3 - For Snake

I hope that works as it means we are with the bad guys now, oh and you can download it. Just right click on the link. All I have to do now is figure how to make it play without leaving the page. I may even pay the £3 per month to upgrade if it works.

The bands website

(Ignore Duke Hat – it’s too obviously the first single and not that interesting)

And if you want to hear the rest, you can play this and dance while ironing

Link to last FM radio page for the songs

Stereophonics meets the Strokes and damn fine for it 8/11