Contact

AMG Review of Contact

Dale Nicholls
All Music Guide

Psychedelic rock with great dramatic flair is still the name of the game on Hopewell's 1998 release, Contact. Like their early singles, the songs on Contact are pure ear candy for headphone junkies, full of searing guitar and delicious feedback. In fact, it is Hopewell's knack for crafting blissed-out songs that gives them the upper hand over many of their space-cadet peers. "Love Sweet Cancer," a Radiohead-esque number, opens the album with stadium rock gusto. The whimsical "Purple Balloon" is gentle pop sprinkled with playful keyboards and nursery rhyme melodies. On "Jim Laffin," singer/guitarist Jason Russo's Neil Young-meets-Wayne Coyne vocals whine like a wide-eyed country boy in a runaway rocket ship. The bass-driven "Stranger" is great use of repetition without sounding redundant. The only track that would have made a great B-side is the album's closer; the aimless "This Little Light" comes dangerously close to the space-rock ten-minute jam cliche.