On their debut album, Hoping As A Coping Mechanism, Bristol trio MOULDm manage to tap into and bottle the nervous energy of being human in the world today, then they shake it until it fizzes over the edges. “Misanthrope” immediately launches the listener into a paradox of simultaneously combustible and life-affirming noise.
Building on the ferocious promise of their previous EPs the band allows themselves more time and space to broaden their sonic vocabulary here. Lead singles “Float” and “Falling Posture” hinted at this evolution and within the context of the album they become key emotional anchor points rather than mere centrepieces around which to pad or fill.
“Lucid” and “Emotive Language” see guitars slash and shimmer in equal measure, basslines propel songs with wiry, danceable, post-punk urgency. They employ rhythms that refuse to sit still for too long, only just allowing you to catch your breath. This isn’t about volume though, as with “Tapes”, inside the friction you can hear plenty of hooks, mostly vocal, landing one after another. There’s a flux at play, expressing contradictions with vulnerability and ferocity. Track also rarely stray beyond the three minute mark so each idea inhabits its own succinct sonic world.
Following the glitchy collage of middle point “///“ the tracks do feel a little more off kilter in their consistency. The aforementioned “Falling Posture” and “Lists” clearly standout amongst the others but even tracks like “Reshaping Nothing”, “Decades” and “Humm” demonstrate ambitious attempts to stretch the bands’ sound further, the latter including string arrangements, and they showcase songs and musicians that favour movement and melodies over repetitious machismo any day.
Hoping As A Coping Mechanism isn’t about outrunning anxiety, it turns around and grabs it firmly by the collar, drags it into the light. The album captures an exhausting cycle of overthinking perfectly but thankfully doesn’t collapse beneath its own emotional weight. These are songs about self-preservation and learning how to function in a world that’s seemingly designed to overwhelm and yet MOULD avoid the well-worn clichés. Their writing is sharp and run through with dark humour, finding catharsis in restless momentum and the thrilling possibility of coming out the other end fully alive.
