3 out of 5

Label: V2

Produced by: Larry Hibbitt

Heyooo and welcome back to “the slickest band in town,” which now relates to how a particular album sounds, as opposed to our previous format, which was sending our baby oil production costs through the dang roof.  Thus, with just a couple oily drops applied to the recording process and song composition – often covered by the label, such as slick-purveyors V2 – we might get away from our little contest scot-free, dimes only spent for the price of listening, i.e. the cost of a CD, or – more likely – the catchy as hell single that fronts the experience.  Bloop!

Anyhow, we’re here with Hundred Reasons, and their album, Quick the Word Sharp the Action.  Ditching, even, the 120 minutes veneer of the notebook-cover art of Shatterproof is not a Challenge or the future-baiting CGI-swaddled building of Ideas Above Our Station, Quick the Word’s cover seems splashed with slickness itself, but of, like, the hurry-let’s-get-to-the-beach-so-finish-that-artwork-as-soon-as-possible variety.  Says, fictinally, band frontman Colin Doran, “Yeah, we figured the cover didn’t really matter as long as we roped in listeners with an initial hook.”

Indeed, Quick kicks off with a killer track – Break the Glass – which belies the group’s innate songwriting abilities.  This carries through as the album continues, though rarely as punctuated as that opener, excepting when the band needs to make sure your attentions don’t completely dwindle.  This precious balance – keeping lyrics sensible and not sing-song; applying enough variation to the stadium-ready anthems – is a clear sign of precise slickness application.  Hundred Reasons has always excelled at this, hanging on the precipice of grunge originality that groups like Bush would continue to cling to and occasionally overcome, whereas Hundo is happy to strap up and keep a’hanging.  And released from the oversight of producer Dave Sardy, from their first two albums, Quick the Word has the “opportunity” to shrug off the rawness his production style lends, fully sinking in to a rather faceless identity.

Man, it goes down easy, though, and is damned toe-tapping… for the fleeting seconds it remains in your short term memory.  Quick, indeed!