An excellent debut that promises great live potential and sing-a-longs in the car.
Hertfordshire four-piece The Hunna first burst onto the scene in 2015, making a name for themselves by supporting fellow indie-rockers Coasts. Success followed as a sold out tour in the following spring saw them grace the stage of Southampton’s very own Joiners and perform to a sweaty and excitable capacity crowd. Now, their debut album firmly delivers on the hype that they’ve been able to generate ever since.
100 opens with a trio of infectious and previously well-received singles–‘Bonfire,’ ‘She’s Casual,’ and ‘We Could Be’–which have previously earned them a slot on BBC Introducing and a place on the Reading and Leeds lineups thanks to their ‘One Dance’ levels of catchiness. The record’s pace is slowed somewhat for poppy standout track ‘Alive,’ on which frontman Ryan Potter’s vocals stand out loud and clear on this that’ll have people singing along in their cars. Similarly, ‘Never Enough’ begins slowly and then continues to stop and start in a way that will certainly be effective in a live performance, filling exuberant audiences with impatience and eagerness for the inevitable drop.
The Hunna’s softer side is also exhibited, especially on ‘World Is Ours.’ Its lyrics are reminiscent of every small band’s struggle to gather popularity and adoring fans, although The Hunna itself has rapidly built a following since forming last year, with over 200,000 Facebook likes to date. Despite this, the track resonates confidence–the band’s members are clearly their own biggest admirers and their self-assurance screams potential and suggests they will conquer the industry.
‘Sycamore Tree’ presents the perfect opportunity to show off Potter’s vocal capabilities as well as the band’s diversity in sound. It also provides a well-timed break in the lengthy tracklist–not unlike The 1975’s breakthrough it contains a bold 16 tracks, though 100 clocks in at around five minutes longer–which rounds off with ‘Rock My Way,’ a fitting finale of explosive guitars and rhetorical questions of the existential nature.
Although the record is little repetitive lyrically at times throughout, The Hunna’s all-consuming guitar riffs will soon light up any indie fan’s tastebuds. Similarities to Catfish And The Bottlemen and Circa Waves can be heard particularly on the likes of ‘Brother’ and ‘Coming Home,’ however don’t be fooled. The Hunna is certainly not just another indie rock band–100 proves that sometimes there can never be too much of a good thing.
100 is released on August 26th by High Time Records
