The needle drops on “Life in Parallel” and it’s all there at once — chaotic guitar lines coiling around each other, drums skittering like they’re about to collapse, and a voice tearing through the mix with a very human kind of urgency. Hundreds of AU’s fourth full-length is streaming in full, pulling us straight into a space where soaring melody and incoherent chaos keep colliding.
This is the band’s most expansive look yet at the hopelessness of modern life, tracing political unrest, personal loss, the tentative hope of parenthood, and the uneasy process of aging in a world that doesn’t wait for anyone. Across its running time, the record maintains a sharp immediacy — desperation in one moment, ragged beauty in the next — with the chaos never quite drowning out the melody.
Formed in late 2017 by members of You and I, Saetia, The Assistant, and Hell Mary, Hundreds of AU have spent years distilling decades of hardcore urgency into something volatile but deliberate. “Life in Parallel” introduces vocalist Brian (Lesser Minds) and bassist Buzz (Pellinore/The Banner), their first recordings with the band. They join Paul, Tom, and JB in a line-up that’s expanded its sound without abandoning the restless energy at its core. The album also carries the weight of guest appearances from Geoff Rickley (Thursday/United Nations), Jon Tumillo (Folly), Ryann Slauson (Sonagi/Closer), and Adam Kaniper (Stress Spells).
JB explains the writing process as shifting from song to song: “Sometimes Paul sends a riff and we jam on it. Sometimes Tom has a complete song that we workshop. And usually we’ll sit on it a little bit before we dive in and make changes. But it’s always fun.” Buzz calls it a true collective effort: “Everything is everyone. We’re all responsible for whatever we bring to each song, and if someone isn’t feeling something we keep digging. We all connect with completely different music, so writing something that moves us all is like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
Brian’s approach was shaped by the band’s earlier work. “I have the great privilege of being invited warmly into a band that I was very very fond of prior to joining. I’ve gotten to sing some of the songs that I absolutely love (‘Dark Like Winter,’ ‘Deflection Arts,’ ‘No Sweet Home,’ ‘Thruway’) and each time we play those songs, it’s a trip. I just have a tremendous respect for the band’s prior releases and I wanted to fit the vibe the same amount as I wanted to leave a lasting mark on new material. Everyone in the band has just been really great. It’s been over a year now and the wow-factor hasn’t left yet. Fun fact, I did a zine years ago and on the cover and featured in Issue #1 was Hundreds of AU. Other influences would be Tetsuya Fukagawa from Envy, Jon Tumillo from Folly, Rob Fish from 108.”
Buzz keeps it blunt: “We don’t like to talk about it but we were all punks first. Wasn’t everyone? We’ve all spent a lot of time playing and writing with other bands, and when I listen to the new record I hear a lot of that carry over and blend and evolve.”
The visual identity came from Brian, who painted the album artwork: “I wanted to create an abstract of what I feel like is the disintegration of meaningful bonds to one another. Tom had the idea of using it to make something bigger and I think it’s perfect that it’s in the foreground of a cloudless blue sky and a picket fence.”
The guests add their own weight to the songs. Jon Tumillo describes his contribution to “Blue Jay” as rooted in a shared history: “Brian has been a friend for over two decades, and I’ve been a HOAU fan from the onset. I’ve collaborated on musical projects with Brian before, but this was a unique and more intense kind of challenge because I knew the backstory of the lyrics to ‘Blue Jay’ ahead of time. I knew going into the booth that it was deeply personal for Brian, written about his perspective and role as a father. I identify very much with wading through the emotions many parents endure but feel helpless in conveying, so to scream alongside him was particularly meaningful and expressive. It was perhaps intentionally therapeutic, in a primal way Brian and I understand as both ‘front man’ and ‘dad’. I’m blessed to have shared that experience with him.”
Adam Kaniper’s role came through a familiar channel: “Paul usually calls me when he has something big to ask and when he asked me if I would play some keys on a Hundreds song I was honored for the privilege. Hundreds will always be heart emoji, sunglasses emoji, for fucking life emoji to me.”
For Ryann Slauson, a spoken word piece on the record came from an unlikely place: “Earlier this year I was visiting Tom in upstate New York and he asked if I could contribute a spoken word element to the new Hundreds record and I was grateful, excited, but a little nervous — the topic was Hope, and this year (more than most) has been tough to believe in anything resembling Hope. I struggled to find much inside, so I ended up reading ‘Hope in the Dark’ by Rebecca Solnit, a book I borrowed from a friend a few years ago but never read. She lays out historic context for Hope in the worst situations, periods of history in which people lived in unbearable and unbelievable circumstances but used Hope to shape their future, together. Solnit’s text helped me see beyond the current darkness that I feel consumed by and create something that I hope comes across as heartfelt.”
Now streaming in full, “Life in Parallel” pushes Hundreds of AU’s collision of dizzying riffs, blistering tempos, and jagged but deliberate melody into territory that feels both sharpened and lived-in, confronting personal struggle and systemic failure without losing sight of the fragile things worth holding on to.
