HUNDREDTH‘s daring new full length, RARE, is out today via Hopeless Records. Stream the album now to hear the South Carolina band’s dramatic sound change from aggressive hardcore to RARE’s dynamic blend of lush shoegaze and driving post-punk. Listen below and scroll down to see more details, as they will be supporting RARE all summer long on the Van’s Warped Tour with more tour dates to be announced soon. See full itinerary below.
Making RARE was a significant risk for Hundredth. The band had developed a large and loyal fanbase across three albums of pummeling metallic hardcore, but when it came time to write a new record they found themselves creatively stifled by the genre’s strict walls and faced with a self-imposed ultimatum: make a drastic change, or end the band. Never ones to shy away from a challenge, Hundredth dove headfirst into exploring the sonic freedom of putting it all on the line. RARE combines the band’s love of ’90s shoegaze and dream pop with post-punk grit and their instinctual heavier side to make a unique sound that pays tribute to Hundredth’s influences and past while boldly redefining their future.
#24 on Stereogum’s 50 Best Albums of 2017 So Far list
“…this is a shoegaze album from beginning to end. And it’s a really good shoegaze album. It’s impeccably crafted and unusually confident.” – Stereogum
“…the fast-paced mindset of hardcore transfers to a style of shoegaze that’s not only exuberant and dreamy, but surprisingly capable of working breakdowns into new contexts to great effect.” – CLRVYNT
“Hundredth are well on their way into the indie pantheon of impenetrable rock acts.” – Alternative Press
“…a lush landscape of hyper-emotion and shoegaze discomfort…” – Upset Magazine
The band have also shared a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the making of RARE via a series of in-studio videos documenting the album’s creation and the band reflecting on their desire to go towards an exciting new direction.
Tour Dates:
06/16 Seattle, WA @ Centurylink Field North Lot *
06/17 Salem, OR @ Oregon State Fairgrounds *
06/21 Albuquerque, NM @ Balloon Fiesta Park *
06/22 Phoenix, AZ @ Fear Farm Festival Grounds *
06/23 Las Vegas, NV @ Hard Rock Hotel *
06/24 Salt Lake City, UT @ Utah State Fairpark *
06/25 Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center *
06/27 Nashville, TN @ The Fairgrounds Nashville *
06/28 Metaire, LA @ The Shrine On Airline *
06/29 Atlanta, GA @ Lakewood Amphitheatre *
06/30 Orlando, FL @ Tinker Field *
07/01 St. Petersburg, FL @ Vinoy Park *
07/02 West Palm Beach, FL @ Perfect Vodka Amphitheatre *
07/04 Wilmington, NC @ Legion Stadium *
07/06 Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion Charlotte *
07/07 Camden, NJ @ BB&T Pavilion *
07/08 Wantagh, NY @ Northwell Health At Jones Beach Theater *
07/09 Hartford, CT @ Xfinity Theatre *
07/10 Scranton, PA @ The Pavilion At Montage Mountain *
07/11 Virginia Beach, VA @ Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater *
07/12 Mansfield, MA @ Xfinity Center *
07/13 Darien Center, NY @ Darien Lake PAC *
07/14 Burgettstown, PA @ Keybank Pavilion *
07/15 Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center *
07/16 Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion *
07/18 Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Blossom Music Center *
07/19 Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center *
07/20 Noblesville, IN @ Klipsch Music Center *
07/21 Auburn Hills, MI @ The Palace of Auburn Hills *
07/22 Tinley Park, IL @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheater *
07/23 Shakopee, MN @ Canterbury Park *
07/24 Milwaukee, WI @ Henry Maier Festival Park *
07/26 Maryland Heights, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre *
07/27 Bonner Springs, KS @ Providence Medical Center Amphitheater *
07/28 Dallas, TX @ Starplex Pavilion *
07/29 San Antonio, TX @ AT&T Center *
07/30 Houston, TX @ NRG Park *
08/01 Las Cruces, NM @ New Mexico State University Intramural Field *
08/04 Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre *
08/05 San Diego, CA @ Qualcomm Stadium *
08/06 Pomona, CA @ Fairplex Pomona ** Van’s Warped Tour
More about the band:
Change is perhaps the biggest challenge a band can face. Everyone loves the out-of-nowhere debut or is impressed when a band avoids the sophomore slump, but when real longevity is achieved musicians often find themselves feeling less and less like the people they were on their early records. For some bands this impending need for change is insurmountable. Hundredth is not one of those bands.
With the release of their third full length, 2015’s vitriolic tour de force, Free, Hundredth had finally accomplished all that they could within the relatively restrictive boundaries of hardcore music. They’d given all they possibly could to the genre and were beginning to feel creatively stifled. Completely disinterested and disenchanted by the constrictive walls of their own sound and scene, Hundredth was faced with a self-imposed ultimatum: evolve or cease to be a band. Never ones to shy away from risk, the band dove headfirst into re-inventing themselves. The result is Hundredth’s fourth full-length RARE — an album that contains very little remnants of what came before but preserves the band’s forward-thinking spirit. These 12 tracks reveal the sound of a fearless band exploring new territory, revitalizing their creativity, and propelling themselves into a thrilling future.
Shedding their past and all of it’s restrictions left Hundredth with the freedom to create the music they’d always wanted. Leaning heavily into their love of shoegaze, dream pop, and post-punk, the band combined lush anglophile influences with their innate heaviness and energy, creating an album that seamlessly ebbs and flows between aggression and beauty. Dense walls of rolling distortion collide with crisp drums or melt into subdued atmospherics, all while vocalist Chadwick Johnson’s reverb-drenched vocals float overtop, more dynamic and cathartic than his past screams. Even Johnson’s lyrics seem to follow more esoteric paths, touching on reclusion and a desire to escape, nodding to the creative and social isolation felt within the band’s now past life.
Some may question Hundredth’s decision to evolve. Why fix what wasn’t broken? Why put everything they’ve built on the line? Why leave behind the sound that got them this far? These kinds of questions quickly become irrelevant when one listens to RARE. Hundredth’s desire to truly follow their own path led to a sound that is all theirs, with RARE standing independently as a distinct melding of influence, instinct, and the desire to push boundaries that’s fueled the band from day one. This isn’t a new band; this is passionate, this is heavy, this is dark, vulnerable, volatile, and beautiful. This is Hundredth.
