Skip to content
Straight from the depths of an unused Boston-area concrete laboratory comes the debut of Sweeping Promises. Written and recorded with a patented "single mic technique" just before quarantine, "Hunger for a Way Out", is a post-punk leaning gem of unpolished DIY sound. The title track kicks things off in absolutely classic fashion, full of spirited hooks that echo the early Rough Trade sound. Angular guitars and sharp synth notes float atop a raw rhythm section, while Lira Mondal's effervescent vocals truly define Sweeping Promises' sound. There's something simple yet otherworldly about these tracks - you have the DIY prowess of Kleenex/LiLiPUT and Girls at Our Best!, a brooding new wave-y minimal synth sound woven in, and an undeniable pop-leaning appeal captured in vibrant monaural glory. It's hard to mistake these ten tracks of naturally urgent and driving post-punk for anything other than sheer brilliance. Sweeping Promises deliver in spades on "Hunger for a Way Out".
Packaged in a full color jacket with risograph lyric insert designed by D.H. Strother. Third pressing, 500 copies. Includes risograph insert and download code.
Our take: I’d never heard of Boston’s Sweeping Promises before Feel It Records dropped this, their debut release, but it looks like it’s become something of a sub-underground hit. Its small initial pressing has already sold out, so if you want that all-important first pressing you should grab one of our limited number of copies. It’s easy to see why Sweeping Promises has caught so many peoples’ ears… there’s something special going on here. The band is a capable, post-punk-informed group with a cool, lo-fi sound rooted in all the right parts of the Rough Trade catalog, but it’s Lira Mondal’s charismatic vocals that steal the show. It’ll take a better writer than me to pinpoint what makes her so great, but her star power is undeniable. When I first threw Hunger for a Way Out on my headphones while I went on my morning walk, I remember thinking to myself, “whoa, this band is going places” by the time I was halfway through the first song. Subsequent listens have cemented my feeling that this is a very special record. For fans of neo-post-punk, this is a no-brainer, but it’s more than a genre record. And if you happen to be reading this from the A&R desk of a hip indie label like Merge, Matador, or Domino, please hook my dude Sam at Feel It up with a healthy finder’s fee.