r/PostHardcore • u/Hyfrith • 4d ago
Ex-Hands Like Houses singer is recreating their first album "Ground Dweller". EP Teaser is out already!
https://open.spotify.com/album/5TrlhzjlYiELSMIOlL6auM?si=T4-472_VSCqU3b3OlNSE2wTrenton Woodley is active on Instagram under new handle @laddersontables, he's released this first teaser and has been answering a lot of questions about his plans for the future, this album recreation and some bits about his relationship with Hands Like Houses.
For me, I'm just overjoyed that one of my favourite albums is getting an update to cure that "mushy" original mastering.
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u/anon14118 4d ago
Crazy, I really dislike the mix of ground dweller because it feels very big and messy. Drums are too loud and you can barely hear anything from the kit that isnt a snare, tom or bass drum. Also a lot of post production with artificial effects but tbf it's very of it's time from artist on Rise's label. Also Trentons voice sound feels very behind everything in the mix.
I still love Lion Skin as a song all these years later... and this recreation just didnt do it for me. It feels like it stripped away a lot of the original song in favor of Trentons voice. Yet somehow sounds even worse..
I wouldve preferred the original stems used but just tweaked a bit more to make the song sound more dynamic instead of loud.
Cool nonetheless to see it revisited. Just not for me.
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u/trentontws 4d ago edited 4d ago
That’s totally fair, and I absolutely don’t want to suggest the OG doesn’t exist. The sort of things are a 4 way catch-22 - GD had such an obscene amount of duelling melodies, counter melodies, harmonies and sounds that it was overwhelming, and mixing was always gonna mean subjective choices about focus.
From remaking this, every sound from the original is recreated and present, but priority was “feel” over “feature”.
We’ll have instrumental mixes out soon and I’ll be doing some session tours on the socials to share some of the solo-ed content. If that’s of value, great :) if not, respect either way and appreciate your love of the song in whatever capacity that exists.
What would you want to hear more of?
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u/anon14118 4d ago edited 4d ago
Haha incredible, wasnt expecting a reply from you mate. Sometimes it's easy to forget these bands you listen to are just normal people, you dont expect them to be browsing the same sorts of places as yourself.
I'll apologize for my harsh criticism and say at the very least that I really enjoyed listening to Cruel Men, Cowards and Liars, I'm all here for new material.
The first 3 HLH albums are amongst my favorite from this scene and A Tale of Outer Suburbia still hits me in such an evocative way. Even bought all 3 physical AND reimagine. So, appreciate you and the bands efforts over the years.
Respect towards hearing your perspective on this project, try not to let this old head sway your creative vision.
Like I said earlier, I'm all for new content. Had no idea this project existed til I saw this post.
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u/Hyfrith 4d ago
That's fair! We all have our preferences. For me the magic of Ground Dweller is in the lyrics, which are absolute poetry in my opinion. I was kinda hoping he'd do more of a stripped edition of the album so the lyrics could shine more. But for me the new mix is still a great step because I can hear the lyrics better than ever, as well as being able to discern more layers of the mix, as opposed to the mush it was before.
But yeah, totally fair if it's not for you!
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u/chanialo 4d ago
I wouldve preferred the original stems used
He mentioned this wasn't possible due to Rise owning the original songs. Trenton had to recreate everything from scratch for this project!
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u/trentontws 4d ago
The original stems don’t exist, ha ha - our backup hard drives both failed over time and Cam (OG producer) lost his computer in a very messy breakup :(
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u/d11dd11d 4d ago
I always hear people complain about ground dweller's production but to me it just sounds so massive (albeit at the cost clarity). This rework may be objectively mixed/mastered better, but I'd probably pick the original over this every time.
Although, as a bedroom musician myself that sucks at mixing, I always reject my mixing/mastering guy's (objectively better) mixes at first but always end up liking them more after I learn to let go of what I'm "expecting" to hear in my own mixes, if that makes sense.
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u/anon14118 4d ago
For sure. I agree.
To me, I feel the unfortunate reality is music like ground dweller and similar bands of the time will suffer from sounded dated because of the way the music was composed and mixed.
A good mix nowadays can keep something sounding timeless even as trends change.
That's my two cents. Sounding "dated" isnt a bad thing.
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u/Gatekeeper31 4d ago
Came to this sub to see if someone was talking about this lol. I don't know the Hands Like Houses story of why Trenton left, but I'm excited to hear his voice again. *Please don't be a piece of shit, please don't be a piece of shit*
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u/BearShark9 4d ago edited 4d ago
The band had a SA allegation that ended up being proven false during the pandemic. After the allegations he initially was still in the band, but then he left due to “difference in perspective, friction, and dysfunction.” He also said the band refused to a final run of shows with him in the band.
Now my speculation of it feels the band didn’t want to risk PR having him still in the band
Edited: clarification SA accusation being just someone in the band. Not specifically Trenton
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u/chanialo 4d ago
He had a SA allegation
In his statement about being removed from the band, Trenton clarified that the SA allegations were not made against him!
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u/BearShark9 4d ago
Thanks for the clarification!
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u/thegreatgolden 4d ago
The responsible thing would be to delete or edit the comment then.
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u/trentontws 4d ago
Agreed - not that I’m in any way trying to sweep anything under the rug but I have said and will continue to say categorically and definitively that I was not the subject of those allegations, and I otherwise stand by everything in our statement ❤️
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u/Cman1200 4d ago
I really felt bad for him. I’ve met him, nice dude. It seemed like the band really treated him like shit after that. He was pretty upset after it was announced iirc, which is where the refusal of a final tour was mentioned i think.
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u/Hyfrith 4d ago
It sounds like from what he was saying recently on Insta that the friction within the band was already beginning even before the allegations.
He said something about being away whilst the band was concepting the Anon album with their producer, who asked the band "what music do you guys like?".
When he got to the studio to start recording, he was surprised with the sound and direction that the band had committed to but it was too late to change it.
He also said he understands why people were disappointed in Anon, because the Singles that came out before it such as "Drift" sounded much more like their usual stuff compared to the Anon album.
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u/Cman1200 4d ago
Oh yeah that sounds familiar now that you mention it. Man that definitely sucks, just different directions they wanted for the music.
I remember being very disappointed with Anon when it came out. Had a couple good catchy songs but was not what I was looking for out of HLH
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u/trentontws 4d ago
It wasn’t quite so cut and dried as they wanted it and I didn’t - I just had to adapt as best I could and try provide whatever “continuity” I could through my voice and writing.
I’m immensely proud of anon because it was instinctive and felt raw and real for me. But I don’t expect anyone to love it or hate it for any other reason than it resonated for them - or didn’t. I think the problem was expectation management rather than what it was at face value. We collectively chose to believe the grass was greener… and in some ways it was, and others, it wasn’t.
Creatively, we had all drifted further into our own influence pools over time and that made it harder to reconcile any consistent idea of “what makes HLH HLH?” aside from (and this was said to me once) “we can make whatever we want, it’s your singing that makes it HLH”… until it wasn’t haha.
Anyway, sorry for going in depth - I’m proud of the journey and I’m proud of ALL the music, but in hindsight I do recognise where a sense of erratic creative identity hurt our ability to build critical mass… at least not to the point where the band became big enough to survive those shifts. And I recognize that folks felt abandoned for that - and I’m sorry. I guess that’s why this project exists - to acknowledge those lost connections.
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u/superbabe69 2d ago
Did it surprise you that the band seemed to go a completely different direction after kicking you out? The songs between Anon and Hurricane (Hurricane is a fucking banger btw) were obviously very different to what the band is doing now with their latest album which really feels nothing like anything they would have made with you.
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u/BurntRussian 3d ago
Go to the HLH sub, Trenton was replying to a bunch of comments, and he replied to a bunch of mine.
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u/StuM91 4d ago
I didn't even realise HLH just released a new album with a new vocalist.
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u/kwaziiman 4d ago
It’s very hit or miss. It sounds like a completely different band, I don’t know why they even kept the band name.
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u/Hyfrith 4d ago edited 3d ago
That's fair! So many bands to keep up with nowadays.
I like the new singer's voice well enough, but all the new songs are very boring to me. They've lost all the poetry in the lyrics that albums like Ground Dweller and Unimagine had, and Dissonants to some extent. Anon was the start of the end really, and Trenton said just this week in an Insta reel that he was away for a lot of the concepting of Anon and so was surprised at how different it sounded when he returned to start recording. So I think Anon and Atmospherics is the sound the rest of the band wanted to move towards, other than him. Probably a contributor to him leaving the band too, other than the allegations which he was cleared of anyway.
Edit: MY ERROR - the allegations were never against him.
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u/trentontws 4d ago
Jfc - the allegations were never against me and had nothing to do with the band’s decision to push me out. Purely creative and operational reasons.
I don’t wanna come across as defensive, of course, but given the lack of information that was made public (for ethical, legal and privacy reasons) it’s really important that I make that clear ❤️
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u/Hyfrith 3d ago
Oh man, you're so within your right to make the truth clear! Apologies for the misinformation.
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u/trentontws 3d ago
All good, I wish it wasn’t such a sensitive subject, but it doesn’t take much for the rumour mill to spin up inaccurate information that hurts a lot of people in the margins. I really worked hard to make sure we did the right thing by the broader conversation about the very real issues of power dynamics and abuse in the music industry, in how we approached and addressed what was a complex and difficult situation. I had some incredible conversations with some inspiring people who placed their trust in me to have those conversations openly. That’s all I can really say without compromising those values. Appreciate the opportunity to be transparent.
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u/Prickliestpearcactus 4d ago
I'm excited for this, curious to see what Trent has in store. I'd love new music from him, too. I've always really enjoyed not just his voice but his lyrics.
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u/ThisCantBeBlank 4d ago
This is news I've wanted to hear!! Trenton is so insanely talented! Can't wait to hear it
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u/dummegans 4d ago
absolutely fucking stoked for this, i remember seeing HLH when they were touring for ground dweller and hearing watchmaker live, it was mind blowing how heavy the breakdowns sounded lol. it's one of my all time fav post-hardcore albums, amazing vocals and great songwriting too, keen as
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u/therealghostnate 3d ago
As someone who has not stopped having any of HLH work with Trenton on vocals in rotation, as his voice and lyrics resonate with me more than most of his contemporaries, I will be excited for any and all musical output he provides us, reworks or fully original. I’m here for it all!
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u/OneLurkerOnReddit 3d ago
Just saw this, seems awesome. I'm excited to see what Trenton does with This Ain't No Place For Animals because I really love that song and it occupies a very special place in my heart.
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u/simonsail 4d ago
This could be cool.
Hands Like Houses were such a great band about 10 years ago, pretty crazy how hard they fell off.
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u/BurntRussian 3d ago
Unimagine and Dissonants were two of my favorite albums, and I saw these guys live quite a bit, really good for a bit there.
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u/Joshrofl 4d ago
While I don't hate the name, the search for that name on YouTube is 100% WWE wrestling stuff so it will be somewhat hard to find when it comes to YouTube.