Grand Jury Records has signed some talented artists in the past few years (including Day Wave and Mothers). One of their recent up and coming signings is a four-person indie-rock outfit from Minnesota called Hippo Campus. Don’t let the name fool you — the band creates timeless, dreamy soundscapes.
debut album “Landmark” available february 24th 2017
u.k. tour
1/27: bristol, uk | tix
1/28: manchester, uk | tix
1/29: glasgow, uk | tix
1/31: leeds, uk | tix
2/1: london, uk | tix
Don’t let the title of Haley Bonar’s seventh album fool you into mistaking this St. Paul singer-songwriter for some quixotic optimist. From the regretfully resigned “hometown goes wherever you go” to the wistfully self-deprecating “I was impossible when I was beautiful,” the past clings heavily to her lyrics, an unwelcome anchor that her band’s warmly churning guitars, subtle keyboard ripples and forthright beat battle to dislodge. The characters who populate these songs have varying degrees of success in leaving yesterday behind – Bonar repeats the title of “I Can Change” in a futile attempt to convince herself, but ends the album with a full-throated, and at least momentarily credible, chant of “You can be whatever you like.” Reverbed into soft-focus, Bonar’s voice radiates out from the mix in a manner that suits lines open-ended and allusive enough to read your own history into or as cryptic as an overheard conversation between strangers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1zD6BQ29Gw
Austin Plaine’s “Hard Days” is a Nebraska-era Springsteen-like song that makes a poignant statement of what it’s like living in today’s tough world. The images contained underpin themes of the new American struggle. It’s no surprise that the Minnesota singer-songwriter’s cites legends Bob Dylan and Conor Oberst as influences in his writing.
The Flavor Crystals are among the champions of the new wave psych from the United States of America and which includes, among others, Magic Castles, Myrrors, Mystic Braves.
Led by guitarist and singer Josh Richardson, also author of all the songs (if we exclude ‘Diamond Mine’ , a song by David Kilgour of the Clean and betrays a taste for the lo-fi and all Dunedin Sound), the band arrives the publication of the fourth LP in the studio after the previous work, simply titled ‘Three’ , he rightly got a good response and great acclaim from audiences and critics. To act as the guarantor of the rest was the guru Anton Newcombe, who took the Flavor Crystals under his wing: the band then went on tour with Brian Jonestown Massacre, when the record came out for The Committee To Keep Music Evil, which then it would always be one of the many creations of assets and more and more ‘relevant’ Newcombe.
After three years the Flavor Crystals are back and confirm this with out the good proposed earlier if possible improving itself further and in particular for what concerns a more mature approach to the so-called ‘song form’.Josh Richardson is indeed a songwriter shrewd and intelligent and with a keen sensitivity, while the band has now acquired its own sound identity well defined. Recorded in the Old Blackberry Way of Minneapolis, Minnesota, ‘The Shiver of the Flavor Crystals’ is a record that can only please the aficionados of the band and generally to all fans of psychedelic music.
Listening to this disc drops us into a particular size. Almost surreal. I am reminded of a scene described in the film ‘The Legend of the Pianist on the Ocean’ by Giuseppe Tornatore. It seems to the listener to walk barefoot and trying not to make noise in the corridors of an old brothel do not bother others who at that precise moment are sweeping or maybe you are just doing embrace. What then for the writer is a bit ‘the same thing. The disc never reaches the level of the noise those that could be considered somewhat of excesses, and rather than trying to hit and displace and to surprise at first glance, it is proposed then slowly enter into the ears of the listener to reach the heart and soul and then convey a sense of infinity and cosmic peace.
Do not miss also excursions to the wonderful world of sound and psychedelia, such as in the case of ‘Wednesday Bloody Wednesday’ or ‘Bridge of Noise’ and ‘Bumble Birds’, practically the mantra recited softly.‘Mirror In My Mind’ is a real trip where stand a couple of excellent collaborations, namely that of Ricky Maymi, one of the most eclectic musicians outstanding and here plays the drums, and that of Stephen Lawrie Telescopes of the synthesizer. More pronounced in some cases the component shoegaze: ‘Billy Dee Williams’ Parking Spot’ for example has the connotations of the genre. A concert of guitars screeching like the brakes of a car on the asphalt bagntato serve as the backdrop to a singing suffused and atmosphere, almost ‘numb’, while the battery obsessively repeats the same time.
Among the most interesting releases of recent times, ‘The Shiver of the Flavor Crystals’ is a hard discrete, but how could it be a cat, a domestic cat, and that makes us rediscover those principles that are important for achieving a size freer of the human race: the trust and confidence in relating to themselves and therefore with others. Even where the tones are more melancholy prevails nonetheless a certain serenity background. This disc is great for those who need to pull the oars and rest for a while ‘, for those who want to return to believe in anything, simply for those who now want to switch off and dream a little’ to open eyes . Better if together. The loneliness of the rest never did anyone any good.
Transgressive Records release ‘The Halocline Eps’, a combination of Hippo Campus’ first EP ‘Bashful Creatures’ and latest EP ‘South’. It’s another exciting step for a brilliant young band that are quickly becoming darlings in the UK. Previous efforts ‘Suicide Saturday’ and ‘South’ have seen them named as Huw Stephens’ Single Of The Week and led to sessions for BBC Radio 1 and XFM, whilst The Guardian, NME, DIY and Q have all marked Hippo Campus out as a band to keep a serious eye on. Hippo Campus are four Minnesotan boys making music that is infectious, joyful, and thematically soaked with the sense of cynicism accompanying the youthful search of self-meaning. The band met in High School and are still yet to hit legal drinking age but following an explosive SXSW – which marked their first shows outside their native town – the four teenagers signed to legendary indie label Transgressive Records. ‘Violet’, from the band’s new single, also marks something of a milestone in a year that has seen Hippo Campus evolve from playing packed shows in their hometown of Minnesota to touring both sides of the pond with the likes of Modest Mouse, Walk The Moon, Real Estate and My Morning Jacket. Explosive performances at SXSW (the band ended the festival with a live appearance on US talk show Conan), The Great Escape and Reading and Leeds festivals have further set the band out as ones to watch for 2016.
Hippo Campus is a young band in a couple of ways: The Minnesota quartet has only been together a relatively short time, its members are barely of legal drinking age, and it’s only released one EP so far, the Alan Sparhawk-produced Bashful Creatures. But the band’s few recordings and live shows have been enough to inspire radio play all over the country, plus tours with Modest Mouse and a slot at this year’s Lollapalooza. Another EP, South, will be out in October. In the meantime, enjoy the band’s cover of Electric Light Orchestra’s classic “Don’t Bring Me Down,” a hit from 1979 that features either the word “Bruce” or “grooos,” depending on who you ask.
A Minnesota band that comes at you like a force live, these guys have a way of putting the spirit of the small town, the bonfires, the cheap beer, and closing down the bar five nights out of the week into everything they do. Their songs are anthems for the bearded and the penny dry. They are anthems for the lowdown fellows and their big dreams. They are anthems for the stuck and the churning. When you get to the other side of any of these songs, you’re feeling buzzed but strangely steadier than you were when you went in.
With the 4onthefloor’s third release, All In, frontman, Gabriel Douglas, wants the band’s next album to be driving and immediate; something that speaks to the growing audience of the band. “You don’t need a time machine to experience this record and this isn’t a kid playing with a laptop in their closet,” said Douglas. The band wanted to showcase their roots in blues and also the immediacy of post-pop punk with the hooks & sing-a-longs you’d find in all the best road trip anthems. All songs on this record were written with a notable high octane, and the furious delivery can be heard throughout the tracks.
The band worked with an American treasure, Erik Koskinen, for this record. “He’s got a great studio for live takes with a full band, and a great ear for what works,” said Douglas. The songs are quick, energetic, & fit. Douglas doesn’t write stuff he can’t play and he doesn’t play stuff he doesn’t mean, which you can hear in the immediacy of the songs.
Rock’n’roll has had many definitions. Some more strongly defined in the sound of the music and others by the soul behind them. Influenced by past moments of rock’n’roll by Neil Young, the Guess Who, Led Zeppelin, and including the modern variations carried on by bands like Brand New, Lucero, the Black Keys, and Murder by Death, The 4onthefloor is setting out to stomp on in the footholds of rock’n’roll and light the fires where they need to be lit. Rock’n’roll is alive and well in this band.
Following in the footsteps of some of the band’s influences, being on the road plays a large role in the writing for this record. The merriment must come from all angles, including the stage for a memorable show and the 4onthefloor BRING IT. A small town upbringing brought along the song, “Small Towns.” Growing up in a town of less than 2,000 heartbeats, and no stoplights; the cornerstones of small town America rings true. The song is about enjoying where you are, wherever you are. It’s about finding ways to pick yourself and the folks around you up, finding joy & humbleness in the open hands that you find when you look hard enough. Douglas writes about experiences, failures, successes, and not so much the what-could-have-beens. Life is for the living and this is the soundtrack to a life well lived. Keep the fire in your eyes.
Hippo Campus are four Minnesotan boys making music that is infectious, joyful, and thematically soaked with the sense of cynicism accompanying the youthful search of self meaning. Beans, Espo, Stitches and Turntan met in High School and are still yet to hit legal drinking age but following an explosive SXSW which marked the band’s first shows outside their native town the four teenagers that make up Hippo Campus signed to legendary indie label Transgressive Records and are now release their debut EP ‘Bashful Creatures’ (produced by Low’s Alan Sparhawk) The buzz around the band at the Austin music festival was also noticed by the producers of Conan O’Brien’s television show who booked them to perform single ‘Suicide Saturday’ at the soonest opportunity.
The upstart four-piece that met in art school in St. Paul may be as fresh-faced and wide-eyed as they come, but this summer they’re going to have to get used to success. Thus far they only have a six-song EP to their name, but lead single “Suicide Saturday” has the precise kind of ebullient catchiness characteristic of the most infectious summertime anthems. When we put the band in a room to record a stripped-down version of the track at uShip’s Austin headquarters, the band was gearing up for a few more SXSW performances followed by their first national tour, which will include a stop at Lollapalooza.
“It’s overwhelming a little bit,” they said about the prospect of hitting the road. “Minnesota has awesome venues and awesome fans, but it’s a dream to be able to go across the world and check out all the other places we could possibly branch out to.”
The enthusiasm in their performance for us was so genuine that it didn’t surprise us in the slightest when, suddenly, a week later they made their national television debut on Conan. It’s an achievement not many bands claim during their first trip to the West Coast, but if you’ve got the goods, you’ve got the goods, and we dare you to listen “Suicide Saturday” without it getting lodged in your head. Summer can’t come soon enough.
Watch our exclusive live session with Hippo Campus from SXSW below.
Recorded live in Austin by Do512 The Band Hippo Campus, Their album “Bashful Creatures” is an unabashedly fun guitar pop record that only grows more rich with each listen. Alright, listen. What I’m trying to say is that it’s pretty much perfect album .Favorite track: Suicide Saturday.
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