Hope of the States

Hope Of The States are an indie rock band from Chichester in England. The band currently consists of six members: Sam Herlihy (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Anthony Theaker (guitar, keyboards), Paul Wilson (bass), Mike Siddell (violin), Mike

Hope Of The States are an indie rock band from Chichester in England. The band currently consists of six members: Sam Herlihy (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Anthony Theaker (guitar, keyboards), Paul Wilson (bass), Mike Siddell (violin), Mike Hibbert (replacing the late Dr Jimmi Lawrence) (guitar), and Simon Jones (drums).

Named after a 1930s paper on the state of the mental health system in the USA, and currently signed to Sony Music Europe the band have already survived tragedy (guitarist James Lawrence committed suicide in January 2004, widely reported in the international press) and achieved critical acclaim with their album The Lost Riots which went straight into the UK Top 40 album chart. The first single, Black Dollar Bills, was packaged in a hessian sleeve, each hand-sewn by a band member and later a collectors' item. Though the band's musical roots are in the heavily instrumental post-rock tradition of bands such as Mogwai, the album saw them blending this, to the disappointment of some, with more conventional indie rock fare.