Hooks and Halos

Hooks and Halos bridges the gap between a variety of music listeners, reaching diverse crowds of all ages. Soulful and heartfelt lyrics accompanied with powerful musicianship hit home in a way that we can all relate to. - Artvoice

The Scars We Hide By: Brian Campbell

Hooks and Halos
The Scars We Hide
www.myspace.com/officialhooksandhalos

One thing keeps coming to mind as I’m listening to Hooks and Halos latest, The Scars We Hide - how is it that I have never before heard of this band? I mean, you would think that I would have heard of a band that’s this good.

WARNING: You will be singing the words to their songs in no time. They have an infectiously catchy aspect to all of their songs that you will enjoy. Usually, the catchier it is, the more clichéd the music is, but not here. To envision Hooks and Halos, think Augustana, Counting Crows, maybe some Goo Goo Dolls and then add to that some Daughtry as well. So, sufficed to say, these guys are really talented and their music is really good.

The Scars We Hide is a great piece of rock music with sprinkles of soft piano touches and nice acoustic guitars. It is relentlessly hooky, with a lot of well-groomed guitar work, and very sound drumming. Vocalist Billy Jones’ soulful melodies and sweet harmonies will have you captivated from the moment the album kicks off with Summers End. There are only five songs on this record, but they are all very, very good. Jones’ songwriting ability is tremendous, as he penned five tracks for this record that are easily relatable and applicable to each listener’s own life. The vocals are persistently passionate and alluring, which leads me to believe that there probably isn’t a better fit at frontman for Hooks and Halos than Billy Jones.

Another Disappointing End is a refreshing upbeat, poppy track that should work well on radio, and it does stand out as their most polished song. Daddy closes out the record as an intelligently executed personal track that really combines all the main parts of Hooks and Halos into one complete and well-rounded song. It is a fitting end to the record, and would probably be a great song to hear live as well.

I love this record. I have easily listened to it ten times (more then likely) over the span of a few days and I still can’t take it out of my player. Like I said before, you will be singing the words to these songs very quickly, I know I was.

Hooks and Halos is a great band and their record, The Scars We Hide, is fantastic. What’s not to like? Make sure you check this band out soon.









- Buffalo At Home.com

Hooks and Halos (www.myspace.com/officialhooksandhalos) were one of the bands I was actually there to see. I was disappointed how short their set was but I know they didn’t really have much control over it. They played a strong set full of music that really reminded me of early 3 Doors Down for the most part. They opened the set with my favorite song, which coincidentally is the first song, Summer's End, off their excellent EP, The Scars We Hide. They completely owned a cover a Radiohead’s classic Creep, and the crowd was extremely receptive for it. They were really on point the whole show, which concluded very well with their track No Tomorrows. Believe you me, I will make the effort to see them again, and you should too if you haven’t yet.

- Buffalo At Home.com Brian Campbell