Sweeping Promises - Hunger For A Way Out LP

Sweeping Promises - Hunger For A Way Out LP (Feel It Records / USA)

Eighth pressing of 1000 copies.
Cyan labels/silver ink. Includes riso lyric sheet and download code.

The below was written in 2020. Turntable Report was among the first to write about this band and hype what I knew was destined to be the best record of the year. Since this review was written, Lira is a like sister to me and the band has become dear friends. My band recorded at their studio last summer. There is even more to this story in 2023, but I can't spill the beans just yet. The HFAWO record came out before my shop existed, but I am making up for that now. Everyone should own this record and I will stock it until all of you have a copy to call your own.

Listening Notes (8/24/2020)

The race is on for music writers to describe this Boston band using whatever obscure Rough Trade adjacent, women in post punk reference they can muster, but that only tells half the story of a record that now sits at the very top of my best of 2020 list. Sweeping Promises is a direct hit to the pleasure center for those of us who grew up listening to danceable, but slightly melancholy pop on the radio in the '80s. These songs contain top tier, mainstream melodies on par with Berlin, Eurythmics, B-52s, and early Blondie. This record may be on one of my favorite current indie labels (Feel It) but the Top of the Pops major hit potential of these songs are impossible to ignore. They are indisputable earworms and their hugeness shines through despite the understated production value. This is a record not to miss and to keep the party going, I have made you an Eighties Vacation Youtube playlist of some of my all time favorite lady centric wavers that mirrors much of an early Walkman mixed tape I made myself in grade school. PS I can also play the obscure reference game with the best of them. Sweeping Promises reminds me of Pretty Poison's best song "You Kill Me" and I have added it to my video playlist for your discovery pleasure. Scroll down to the bottom for the video playlist.

They Say:

Straight from the depths of an unused Boston-area concrete laboratory comes the debut of Sweeping Promises. Written and recorded with a patented "single mic technique" just before quarantine, "Hunger for a Way Out", is a post-punk leaning gem of unpolished DIY sound. The title track kicks things off in absolutely classic fashion, full of spirited hooks that echo the early Rough Trade sound. Angular guitars and sharp synth notes float atop a raw rhythm section, while Lira Mondal's effervescent vocals truly define Sweeping Promises' sound. There's something simple yet otherworldly about these tracks - you have the DIY prowess of Kleenex/LiLiPUT and Girls at Our Best!, a brooding new wave-y minimal synth sound woven in, and an undeniable pop-leaning appeal captured in vibrant monaural glory. It's hard to mistake these ten tracks of naturally urgent and driving post-punk for anything other than sheer brilliance. Sweeping Promises deliver in spades on "Hunger for a Way Out".

Packaged in a full color jacket with risograph lyric insert designed by D.H. Strother.