Hit the Lights – “Anthem” • Page 3

Yeah there's a reason they've had a better career and it starts with: they wrote way better songs. It's sometimes that simple.

 

It doesn't change the fact that at the time, Alt Press compared to album to Stick Up and said it had "less variety here than you’ll find in a flannel factory." Yes, ATL have progressed, but they started as a derivative, albeit a solid one, with the same influences as HTL.

Why write it off as spam, though? Isn't it possible they've maintained a fraction of their fanbase through the years? Every song from Summer Bones has hundreds of thousands of plays on Spotify with 213k monthly listeners. By comparison, Acceptance, a band you've consistently praised into this year, has only 150k.

 

Yeah, they progressed, and then regressed to making mindless, boring pop music.

HTL were signed to a major label after the album your referring to. It didn't work out, but obviously they gained some forward momentum after the "neon album". And why would a major label even give a chance to a dude that couldn't sing or write good hooks?

 

I don't care what Alt Press has ever said regardless, but what point does that prove? How does that argument look favorable for HTL when they didn't progress like ATL or gain a fraction of the popularity?

 

Remember kids, you may be boring, shitty, pop punk, but at least you're not "sleepy eyes and bony knees" boring, shitty, pop punk.

 

Because you can see how comparatively little plays they get now on YT, and for how long the songs have been up how comparatively small streams they do ... then I combine that with how little their new material does on the same platform.

But I'd never say anything beside that Acceptance were (and are) a small to barely medium sized band with very few fans that released one album and disapeared for a decade! That they're even close only backs up my point about HTL's size given the amount of material released. Just cause I praise them doesn't make them somehow a bigger band

 

There's nothing mindless about it. Call it boring if you want, but they're writing excellent poppier songs and have better, more detailed production.

 

Wasn't the Razor and Tie thing was part of the Triple Crown selling deal? They engulfed the company and Fred iirc. But major labels sign bands that they shouldn't have all the time! They don't work out even more frequently. And I liked the album that came out of it. Then they saw that didn't sell so they reverted. That didn't sell much either. And now you get this same recycled shit a few years later and get to argue with me about it cause I'm one of like a few hundred people that still write about them or cover their music at all.

 

The last three (including the new one) ATL albums are better than anything HTL ever wrote (including this mediocre song). Trying to talk shit only works if you have the tunes to back it up. When you don't wanna talk about 'Invecta' so the "popular" songs are misogynistic pop-punk that doesn't hold up, and the band's current music is a washed over version, that's not a good spot to be.

 

It proves HTL played that sound before ATL and should get some credit for bringing them on tour back in the day. So if any of you are going to write off their first couple albums as "generic," maybe do the same for ATL.

I think HTL is in the position where they were once big in the scene and now have a small cult following. They're not selling out big venues or cranking out Top 40 hits, but I think it's fair to say their first two albums are staples from that era.

Kinda like this?

I do think the last few ATL albums are very good, but song wise, they've put out quite a few clunkers over the years.

 

By the way, what did you think of the Thief Club album, Jason? Stylistically, it seemed more up your alley.

 

HTL was signed to Universal. My point was that the marketing push you say was wasted since the band had no appeal isn't correct.

Misogynistic? I'm guessing you're one of those people that's offended by "Dumpweed" too. LOL

 

They never released an album with Universal due to label drama, though. 2011/2012 was also too late for a band with their style to take off, then they released an album in an even more niche style.

I'm not even going to get into the sexism since every (not literally "every") band from that period has sexist songs. It's a product of its time, but it doesn't make it okay.

 

This is bad, the production is bad. It's even worse than Summer Bones in terms of "could have been written in 5 minutes" pop punk. Go back to Invicta's sound and make a proper follow up to it please. Until then, they're done and I'm sure we'll get a "Hit The Lights announces their breakup or their hiatus" at some point.

 

Invicta is the only album that had the chance to make them bigger. The songs, the hooks, the melodies, they had it all on this one. Too bad they decided to release bland pop punk again. Nick is such a good singer, so why does he still waste it on poor songs ? I've always thought he sounded like Phil from Story Of The Year / Greek Fire, I guess he would be way better singing heavier songs and / or poppier ones. Just something that suits his voice, not boring stuff like that.

 

What album was released with Universal? Invicta was Razor and Tie. And uh, the lack of appeal is proven by the lack of album sales or tours.

Offended? No. Misogynistic. Yes.

 

They're not staples of that era. They're just not. If they were people would care about this song. And it's me and you talking about it and you created a second account to do it. Haha. Just sayin. Like they don't even get to Motion City level.

 

He's a pretty bad singer that uses his head voice too much .... and is only a mediocre song writer. I've always thought that. It's not very good.

 

Oh and why we're on it: fuck Pure Noise Records. Forgot this was on what garbage label or I wouldn't have posted it.

 

It's a self-released song on a new YouTube channel with limited Facebook and Instagram reach. I didn't expect it to get much traction in a day. I don't think it's good enough to get big, but it's basically a glorified demo anyway. I liked Summer Bones a lot.

And no, this is my only account on here. You can see I've had it for over a year... I just don't post much. If I have a second one, I certainly don't remember making it.

 

You can't make the argument they have a large-ish fanbase or cult fans and excuses for why they don't get any plays in the same breath. That circle doesn't square.

(Well your computer definitely has logged into another account.)

 

A lot of people know them, but only a portion still pay attention to them. That seems to happen to every band that doesn't break into the mainstream. But I don't think longevity is required to acknowledge what bands were relevant during a certain period, especially when you have bands like Hawthorne Heights and RJA who sold millions of records but can barely draw anymore.

What account is it? I honestly don't remember.

 

But that's not what was claimed.

 

I know HTL is held in high regard in "easycore" circles. That's what I meant by a cult fanbase. There are even a couple bands named after their songs, even though they aren't particularly good.

 

I'm not sure if they're still on PNR. This single is labelled as self-released.