After being dropped by Columbia, Hundred Reasons have regrouped, moved over to V2 and returned with album number three (also called Kill Your Own). From the evidence of this first single, it looks like Columbia dropped the ball here, as Kill Your Own has all the trappings of an instant rock-club classic.
Launching with that Tom Morello guitar drill noise so beloved of nu-metallers, Kill Your Own soon pulls out a blaster riff that sounds like it's done a couple of rounds with Reuben behind a Surrey bike shed. It's a furious number and, though it lacks lyrical ingenuity when compared to Reuben (or the sadly departed Million Dead), it delivers where it counts.
That said, Hundred Reasons always seemed to belong more in the US post-hardcore camp than the British equivalent, and Kill Your Own has none of those twists of British idiosyncrasy that risk alienating American listeners. The flip side is that, despite kicking ass, Kill Your Own is just another well-executed rock anthem in a sea of many and may become utterly forgettable when the next one hits. That's how the music business works, though - enjoy this stomper while it lasts and remember, in the words of the song, "it was futile anyway".
