Album Review: Hands Like Houses - Unimagine

Unleashing some hard-hitting riffage, Hands Like Houses' sophomore album Unimagine channels a very familiar mix of post-hardcore structure and aesthetic combined with R&B undertones that only Jonny Craig could love. Over-used orchestra samples outstay their welcome throughout, quickly transitioning from refreshing to banal (see: Wisteria). Despite a fairly generic overall sound, HLH deliver some catchy hooks, particularly excelling in their tasteful implementation of effects and synthesisers, most notable throughout Fountainhead and Introduced Species. Far from reinventing the wheel, Unimagine merely tries its hardest to get maximum mileage from an otherwise stale sound.