Many No Echo readers are undoubtedly familiar with Kraut, the Queens-based outfit behind the NYHC standard, "All Twisted." Well, the singer of Kraut, Davey Gunner, is fronting End of Hope, a new band that brings him together with bassist Davis Richman (Reign of Zaius), drummer Dave Richman (St. Bastard) and guitaist Ken Wolhrob (Eternal Black).
"I met Ken at Lucky 13 Saloon in 2016 when our bands were on the same bill," says Davey. "I was impressed by his band and his guitar playing, he had a great tone. We just hit it off, we seemed to be on the same page. We talked about jamming together, but we were both so busy with other things. About a year later we got together and jammed on a few ideas." Ken continues End of Hope's origin story: "We’ve all known each other for roughly two years. I had the idea for the band for a long while. Somewhere between Motörhead and Black Flag. There is a common thread to their sounds that I thought no one had tackled in a long while."
Speaking of their sound, the material on the End of Hope demo has the aggression of hardcore with a certain catchy quality to the riffing and choruses. "We definitely talked about a sound," admits Davey. "We are on the same page with that. I believe Ken had a image/idea what he wanted. I fit the bill because my history of singing hardcore, but also understanding what catchy choruses mean to a song." Ken continues: "There was that core concept, but once we got in the room together, we really honed it down. We naturally fell into writing shorter songs. No extra skin on the bone whatsoever.
"Why have three verses if you only need two? Nix that sucker. The more we played a song, the more we could see the extra fat that could be cut away. We were left with these short punchy tracks. Then Gunner and Davis started building up these great choruses, very old school, very anthemic. They work really well together. So even though a song is 2-3 minutes, and packs a punch, there are layers in there. The sludgy, thick guitars and bass, the energy of Dave’s drumming, and the hook of how the lyrics are sung."
Of the two tracks on End of Hope's demo, "Last Night" hit close to home for me. I've definitely been there before, and so has Davey: "Ah, 'Last Night.' It's a song about somebody you go out with who gets drunk and is talking shit. He is gonna get pummeled if he keeps it up and of course he has no idea he’s doing it because he is so polluted. You politely step in and escort him out. Then proceed to tell him about it the next day."
What’s the plan for End of Hope going into the rest of 2018 and beyond? "Next up for the band is recording a full-length album in the fall of 2018 and then playing some great shows." That sounds like a good plan.
Follow End of Hope on Facebook and download their demo on Bandcamp.
Tagged: end of hope
