On this day, 9 July 2004, English post rock-influenced indie band Hope of the States played Cardiff’s Barfly.
The band formed in 2000, naming themselves after The Shame of the States, Albert Deutsch's 1948 book on the state of mental healthcare in the United States. They were discovered after sending a demo to the Planet Sound teletext page, and were signed to Sony BMG. Scott R. Walker left the band after the first initial releases and then went on to form KASMs.
The band's guitarist James Lawrence committed suicide in January 2004, shortly before the release of their first album, The Lost Riots, which reached the Top 40 in the UK Albums Chart.
Released to mostly enthusiastic critical acclaim upon release, reviewers praised the band's balance of intense post-rock bombast and anthemic post-Britpop dynamics, while criticism was directed at lead singer Samuel Herlihy's lack of vocal range and the band's dour sound. The album charted at number 21 on the UK Albums Chart.
The band's first single, "Black Dollar Bills", was packaged in a hessian sleeve, each hand-sewn by a band member. The band's most extensive UK tour started in October 2004, beginning with a date in Belfast's Mandela Hall, including an appearance at the Dance Academy in Plymouth.
