Recall, if you will, when simultaneously playing Wizard of Oz and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon was the craze. Now bear with me for a second and try to follow the subsequent logic.

For a slightly bleaker experiment, try cueing up Hula's self-titled CD and watching the news at the same time. I can promise you one thing-- you'll swear that Hula is singlehandedly scoring the apocalypse.
It's chilling stuff.

And Hula knows it. Lyrically and melodically, it's wretchedly perfect because it reflects the wretched times we live in. Period.
Not that Hula is shelling out total depression (even though two Hula tracks are eerily reminiscent of some of Lou Reed's most euphorically bleak songs—Hula's "Don't Have To Shout" smacks of Reed's "Temporary Thing," but "Ready To Ride" is akin to one of his most uplifting, "Coney Island Baby").

They're doing some mirror tricks here, reflecting ourselves back to us. Hard to make generic complaints about so-called "disheartening music" when it's just the truth.
Vocally, Chad King is able to emulate the sounds of everyone from Bryan Ferry to Stephin Merritt. Mix that with the ethereal strains of Nineteen Forty-Five and throw in a little Radiohead and you've got the perfect soundtrack to count down 'till the end of days.

LINKS:
WS - www.hulatheband.com
MP3 - spitting the names

Hula "Hula"
what it is	If you want your melancholy well-done but not black, Hula's perfect for your palate.
reminding of	Low, Thin White Rope, Yo La Tengo, Lou Reed hooks
what works	Great songs, intense vocals, excellent harmonizations, good lyrics
what could be better	Hula knows what they're doing, and pull off few musical flourishes—hell, they could even get showy and it wouldn't be pretentious.