Naturally balancing gritty rock vocals with emotive long-form melodies and often piano-led arrangements, Hello Fiasco drive with strength of identity and lyrical depth, throughout their powerfully moving album Find The Shoreline.
Something of a bravely revealing opener, It Makes Sense proves refreshing in both style and substance. The lyrics intrigue, connect for their honesty and vast relevance, and the hook quickly settles in for that resolving familiarity.
Alongside this, things progress from piano through pop-rock weight to the unexpected warmth of strings, across this increasingly harmonised and vastly moving set-up. It’s a sound all of their own, pop-punk vocals intertwined with a considerately crafted musicality, and writing that touches on aspects of life and intimacy in a genuinely new way.
As the project goes on, all twelve songs offer something equally new. The sound is secure as Hello Fiasco – the voice, the depths, the longing and the passionate build-ups – but otherwise there are plenty of fresh and notably human ventures to delve into.
Hold Me Close is an early highlight, rightfully having amassed over a quarter of a million streams in its short time since appearing on Spotify. The style is again creative, unpredictable in structure and energy, but ultimately interesting, uplifting and powerful as it gathers momentum. This fusion of rock intensity and pure vulnerability, the contrast between the crash of the drums and the sheer desire of the term ‘Hold Me Close’, feels authentic and mighty.
Elsewhere we get that contrast mastered further still, such as between the high-energy moments and the softer acoustic ponderings of songs like the beautifully hypnotic Before Time Leaves You. The band aim straight for the heart, writing from a place of contemplation and soulful awareness, and everything from the lyrics to the performances to the overall production reinforces this quality.
Consistently surprising their listeners is an absolute strength of Hello Fiasco. Consider the harmonised vocal choir of You Don’t Want Love, its subsequent early 2000s pop-punk structure and back and forth from pace to near-a-capella closeness. The stories and melodies and progressions always sound genuinely original, whilst the style weaves in dashes of multiple genres for a truly eclectic listen.
Loaded with riffs, catchy hooks and longer-form meandering verses alike, this project is musically impressive and conceptually inspiring all at once. Easy-going anthems like Gorgeous Girl inject a level of nostalgic fun, almost Brit-pop-esque to a degree, and softer ballad-kissed songs like Listen To Me, and the wonderfully warm Atlantis and Compatible, offer a welcomed arena of calm.
Chess is a personal highlight, an energetic anthem with catchy moments and a clear sense of volume that urges you to witness it at a live show. Words Are Fast is another for its juxtaposed degree of profound thought and poetic, provocative softness and hardship combined. Then there’s the nineties-esque, festival-ready Worried Sick, with fast-paced power chords, lyrical realness, and that fine build-up towards another anthemic drop.
A fascinating band, in short – great songwriting, musically faultless and creatively interesting, managing to achieve a subtly quirky status without sacrificing the familiarity and comfort of renowned building blocks. The album feels like a breath of fresh air for modern rock, and fearlessly blurs the line between mainstream and alternative traits, for a consistently engaging listen.
Find the album on all platforms from August. Check out Hello Fiasco on Facebook, TikTok, YouTube & Instagram or visit their Website.
It was a complete rock’n roll honour working with front man Eric Labossiere- and band “Hello Fiasco” for over a year of finalizing “Find The Shore Line” and my company iStreamguru. These talented writers and performers had a great vision and product coming up, and by assisting in giving administrative focus, the music has now launched the potential into the great abyss of the music industry and potential fans around the world. From myself Dean Hajas, and the families that supported, all the very best to the band and the music of Hello Fiasco to “Find the Shoreline”.
I had heard the album when my friend told me about it. Had no idea about these guys. So many great songs but my fave is definitely “You Don’t Want Love” on the rock sideand “Words Are Fast” on the down low. SO good! Great review!
I’m def a fan. Saw their video for “Hold Me Close” and somehow, I related right away. The music. Their look. The fact that they have big highs and big lows in their songs, and somehow they make it all work. I’ve been listening to “Find The Shoreline” all week on Apple since it went up and I really believe it will be heard by thousands or millions of people. – Trinity
I’m in love with the bass / drum combo in this band. I play music and THIS is a rhythm section. From the rimshots the drummer does off and on throughout the record, to when he opens up on the kit…the percussion is pretty awesome. I also love the warm tones of the bass, but then he also uses these cool sounds and distortions in other songs. Super love his driving bass in the chorus of “Hold Me Close” and then the fuzz in “You Don’t Want Love.” Kickin’!!! Can’t wait until they tour the Pacific Northwest.
Great review of a great album. Wow. Where did these guys come from and how did they time this so right for what I needed in my life right now? Excellent. Every last song.
Thanks for sharing, loving their debut album!!
Can’t get enough of the bass on this album. All the other musicians are top notch. Great album!
Love the new album!! Love Boss’s voice !!
Hope to see them when they come to HAWAII!!!
Thanks for the review you did on them. My favorite numbers are “Words are Fast” and “Atlantis and Compatible.”
Thank you for this spot-on review of the album. When I first listened to Find the Shoreline, I was completely blown away. It’s one of the best debut albums I have ever heard. From the opening notes of It Makes Sense through the album closer Trust, I was captivated and wanted to hear more. Many albums start strong and lose steam after a few songs. Find the Shoreline keeps building all the way through. Along with the songs mentioned in the review (and by other commenters, make sure to give One Phone Call several plays. Can’t wait to hear all of these songs live!
Rock and fricken roll!!!! Talk about starting from the bottom and now we are here!! Congratulations on your amazing baby Hello Fiasco Find The Shoreline. I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted or was expecting from this album in the beginning… but you people certainly hit it out of the ball park 🙂 Keep up the steady, consistent and hard work!! We are ALL loving the results.
Enjoyed the article and the little facts I wasn’t aware of or as familiar with. Love everything about this band, before Hello Fiasco I didn’t take myself as the guy to ever even take the chance to understand what Pop Rock even was and now here I am. Truly enjoy watching the process and am happy to say I want to be in the crowd of some of their live music as well. Keep up the hard work and most importantly keep up with the sweet content!
Sweet article! The part where they discuss Chess as a catchy tune that’ll make you want to experience the band live is most certainly accurate and very true!!! I first hand have been to the concerts and you WILL NOT regret purchasing a ticket, you have my word! Keep kickin butt guys !!!:)