new music: they hate change tackle post-adolescent struggles on “cycles”

If you found any of their albums to be like the outside looking in, “Cycles”, their Deathbomb Arc debut, is a more inclusive album where Andre and John both ruminate on their last days as young people. Considering when this was released, it may as well be their most vocal summer album. (“Tarpon Lake” is their first summer album dedicated to hanging out at the lake in question.) 

“Cycles” is a concept album about trying to be successful using whatever tools are at their arsenal, and finding out that trying to balance the tools aren’t as easy. At this point, both Andre and John know that getting where they wish to be requires not only hard work, but a job, which is something high school teachers either don’t tell you or it gets ignored by teenagers with enough stars in their eyes to light up the room they’re in.  Seeing as how they have just gotten the shine they deserved, it make sense that they begin with “Remember?”. Talks of girls looking down at them pre-work and teachers turning them away become topics of choice as “Remember” becomes They Hate Change’s short-lived laugh at those who thought they wouldn’t make it or thought their stuff wasn’t good enough to do so. I say short-lived because elsewhere in the album, they were brave enough to let us in on the struggles of trying to make it all work. 

Where “Summer” finds the boys trying to “get right for the summer” including trying to choose between jewelry and filling up the gas tank, “Renew” reminds us how a grind can seriously take a toll on anyone. Specifically, their stress is caused by people who fake their love and their hunger to get paid more than their work wages. 

“Cycles” psychedelic wave of synths and easy-going drums might sound calm, especially on “Renew”, but to me, that’s merely the sound of us taking a trip through their mind. One moment we visit the sound of pride, the next moment we heard vocals in the background as we revisit a memory (“Bryan’s Trip”), the next moment, they let us in on the struggle of being aspiring underground musicians. As short as the album is, the least one would be is grateful that They Hate Change used their first album on a new label to let us in on it. Because of that, the group might not just find an audience, but a legion of people looking forward to the next chapter. 

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Cycles comes in many forms literally! You can buy a cassette tape from Deathbomb Arc, download it for free on their bandcamp or their soundcloud, or if you don’t mind buying MP3s to help support their works directly, they also have it on iTunes. 🙂