I have listened to both this and Lies and Speeches, and certainly thought that the latter was better, but this is not by a long stretch of the imagination a bad record. My personal favourite tracks are Let Go and No Name. No Name is the most relaxing track I've heard by Hype, with the former being a wonderful example of their hard rock work.
The whole EP is definitely harder than Lies and Speeches, but it is a little more messy and less well-defined. Their sound has, instead of settling into something definite, diversified into broader areas, and there are far more hard rock sounding licks on the EP than on their more rock-indie debut, but this can sound a little out of place with the lead singer's voice.
Hype (and in particular this album) sound like directly influenced by the mid-90s Britpop scene, with melodies very similar to Oasis and Ocean Colour Scene, but with a real lashing of REM, especially in the vocals and lyrics. There is some influence from hard rock, but it never dares to foray into the blistering riffs and heavy sounds of the early metal era.
All-in-all, this album is definitely harder in sound than the first, and this certainly isn't a bad thing. It's pleasant to listen to, and it would definitely work live, but there isn't enough material and almost too much diversification to judge it properly as an independent record.
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