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Artist
Hope of the States
12+ albums
post-rockindie rockindiealternative rockrock
about
Hope Of The States were a post/indie rock band from Chichester, UK. The band formed out of teenage experiments by childhood friends, singer/songwriter Sam Herlihy, instrumentalist Anthony Theaker, and guitarist/vocalist James Lawrence, joined by drummer Simon Jones and violinist Mike Siddell as Hope of the States in 2000 while at university. Paul Wilson later joined as permanent bassist from 2002, and Michael Hibbert joined as guitarist after the death of Jimmi in 2004. Adopting the name from Albert Deutsch's 1948 report on the US mental health system signalled a break with their earlier Mansun/Britpop pastiches in order to marry the hooks and songs to the kind of new post-rock sounds being made by groups like Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Herlihy had landed a development deal with Parlophone Records, giving the band an opportunity to explore expensive and expansive instrumentation & ultimately allowing haunting instrumental The American Revolution to see release in 2002 on Hermetech Records. The limited single Black Dollar Bills followed in 2003; it sold out quickly and gave the band slots at UK festivals as well as a multi-album deal with Sony & Columbia Records. Preceded by the 2003 single Enemies/Friends, the album's release was postponed indefinitely following Jimmi Lawrence's studio suicide in January 2004; however, the group recorded and toured new experimental material as Thee Dust Rackets and bounced back four months later with album The Lost Riots and UK Top 15 sin
