This came out in 2004 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
If any British band has a right sound mopey, it’s Hope Of The States — the band’s co-founding guitarist took his own life during the recording of this album.
Amazingly, the rest of the group not only carried on, they managed to snatch triumph from the jaws of tragedy on their stirring debut disc The Lost Riots. Their lush piano-laced passion — imagine a more romantic Radiohead — ultimately overcomes the weighty sadness of perhaps-prescient songs like Don’t Go To Pieces and Sadness On My Back, while lyrics like “Keep your friends close / Your enemies won’t matter in the end” carry the weight of experience. All of which combine to imbue these 13 tracks with more potency and depth — and ironically, more optimism — than their downtrodden brethren.
