Last week tickets went on sale for a line-up that made me a little weak at the knees: Hundred Reasons, Hell is For Heroes and Cable, with the first two playing their classic debut albums in full. Clearly I wasn't the only one excited by this as tickets sold out in hours and they announced a second London show. I get quite excited by bands playing an album in full at the best of times, but add in the fact that Ideas Above Our Station and The Neon Handshake are two records I'm a huge fan of and you have a very large smile on my face!
A few years ago I wrote a list of my Top 50 Records of the 2000's, a list that I don't agree with entirely now but is largely accurate. The Neon Handshake just pipped End Transmission and came in at number 17, which should give you an idea of how much I love this album. (As a side note, I'm doing pretty well on seeing these albums played in full - a lot of them are turning 10 years old so bands seem to be playing them. So far I've seen IAOS, Full Collapse and Fever to Tell.)
I first heard HIFH on a Kerrang! cd before the album came out. There was a demo of Sick/Happy that might have been the highlight of the cd. It certainly stuck out regardless and made me aware of the band. My local HMV would get in a few 7"s from time to time and I picked up the singles from this album as they came out and bought the album (on cd) on release day. I immediately loved every second of it; there's not a bad song on there and it was just the sort of music I was into at the time - heavy but not metal. I'm still into it now. The whisper/break in Out of Sight is perfect and Five Kids Go is a stunning opener. Sick Happy and the singles are still massive (blog posts on them to come at some point) and the closer rounds it off very nicely. I can't fault it.
A year of so after it came out I found the LP for a bargain £4.50 in Selectadisc in Nottingham whilst visiting my sister. That store was great - so much vinyl and so many awesome albums in the sale. I've not been to Nottingham since so I have no idea if it's still there or still so great. The London one tends to be too pricey for me these days. I think I bought so much that day I had to put some records back because I couldn't carry them all. Anyway, it's a record I'm very glad to have in my collection. Red vinyl and numbered (#344). There's a slight bit on the top right of the sleeve where the price sticker took away the colour, but otherwise it's perfect.
I only got to see the band once, in Preston with The Lucky Nine supporting, but it was incredible. I'd missed them at Reading at least once and later realised my mistake. They were due to play Cardiff on their last ever tour but cancelled the last few shows. I think The Neon Handshake shows will make up for that. It was a shame they called it quits, because all three of their albums were incredibly strong. A few months ago a friend and I went to New Noise in Kingston and were slightly shocked by how few songs we knew (perhaps we're too old for clubbing!) but requested Hundred Reasons and HIFH. They played our requests back to back and I had a fantastic 7 minutes jumping around to I'll Find You and Five Kids Go (nearly accidentally head-butting some girl). At Banquet's Big Day Out I had the fun of seeing HR again and in November I get Hundred Reasons and Hell is For Heroes in one night, except this time I'll be jumping around to the bands instead of a DJ and it won't just be me and Sarah excited!
Format: 12", picture sleeve
Tracks: 12
Cost: £4.50 new
Bought: Selectadisc Nottingham
When: 15/03/04
Colour: Transparent red
Etching: none
mp3s: no
