Album Review: Hippo Campus - 'LP3'
‘LP3’ is a new collection of anthemic indie tracks, written and released by US indie heavyweights Hippo Campus! Their third record is introspective, eclectic and spectacular. The album is a ten-track counting piece of a reinvention of indie music and solidifies Hippo Campus’ place within the modern music scene.
Hippo Campus open up with ‘2 Young 2 Die’, a straight-to-the-point, bang-in-your-face, distorted intro of the album, sounding like a whirlwind of emotions, a slightly disturbing just over three and a half minute track. ‘2 Young 2 Die’ is quite the statement, not just because it’s truly the most eccentric track on the album, due to its noisy soundscape. With ‘Ashtray’, ‘Semi Pro’, and lead single ‘Boys’, they bring a more subtle, pleasant sound that represents the album best. They are the guiding tracks that will have yet unknowing fans of Hippo Campus hooked to this fine indie pop sound, and will have them stay for the surprises such as ‘Blew Its’ and ‘Scorpio’.
‘Ride or Die’ is the immensely infectious pop track we didn’t know we were craving, but its hazy, starry-eyed soundscape and memorable lyrics are still stuck in our head and we’re happy for them to stay there. All of these different sounds, perspectives, and stories, make this the band’s most complete work of art as of yet. It studies the nuances of growing up and coming to terms with mortality, frontman Jake Luppen explains: “Songwriting-wise, we wanted to place a priority on more personal lyrics and more self-referential storytelling as opposed to larger concepts like we did on our first two records. In that way it’s similar to what we did on the ‘Bad Dream Baby’ EP, but in a more earnest way. The priority was on finding the feeling that we had in the early days - when we were really happy making music, you know.”
It is that balance of coming to terms with emotions, experiences and processes, that make ‘LP3’ very well-rounded. It’s also surprising, with songs we love, songs we like, and one or two we don’t mind skipping. Most of all it is very transparent that the band has grown, tried on a new suit that fits them rather well. It is their usage of certain elements, effects, such as in lead single ‘Boys’, that make their sound fall within the genre of unusual indie, a sound that makes them stand out from the crowd. With previous releases they received critical acclaim and a lot of attention, and it earned them mainstage slots at festivals such as Reading & Leeds and Lollapalooza. ‘LP3’ is due to be followed by an immense, pretty much worldwide, run of live shows and will hopefully open even more doors to the exquisite quintet.
Words by Laura Rosierse
