Shatterproof is not a Challenge

When Brit emo-rockers Hundred Reasons first emerged a couple of years ago they were hailed as a breath of fresh air across the pond, leading the charge against the invading hordes of American nu-metal. Their debut Ideas Above Our Station and MTV2 anthems such as ‘I’ll Find You’ and ‘Silver’ were big positive slices of mainstream emo, mixing up watered down Fugazi punkiness with plenty of melody and production sheen.

Their sophomore effort, written in Cornwall and recorded in New York, sees the band sticking to pretty much the same formula of hardcore for softies, albeit with added tune factor.

Big-haired frontman Colin Doran has a voice that mirrors the alternate riffing of the guitars, capable of getting the requisite air into his lungs for the heavier bits (at times reminiscent of Sir Dave Grohl’s growlier moments) but always with an eye on sneaking in a decent tune, especially on a track like ‘Harmony’. They can delve into nu-metal heaviness (such as the Deftones-esque opener ‘Savanna’) but an uplifting chorus never seems too far away.
The energetic ‘What You Get’ and ‘The Great Test’ highlight their best traits (well written, punchy guitars, plenty of gusto), but elsewhere it does begin to get a little formulaic and workmanlike. But then again they would probably never claim to be groundbreaking, they just do what they do with passion aplenty and just a little bit of style.