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Hope of the States’s new album, The Lost Riots, is part of a larger trend in rock towards social consciousness. With a name derived from an essay written by Albert Deutsch on schizophrenics, the British band’s debut reads like a love/hate letter to the United States. Songs with titles such as “The Red The White The Black The Blue,” “Black Dollar Bills,” “George Washington,” and “1776” are less about America and more about an idealized utopia it is tolling the death knell for. With its Clash-like backdrop of power chords, The Lost Riots is a regurgitation of badly digested political philosophy. Nevertheless, the band expresses its opinion with an elegance that is enjoyable.
