Band: HUGS
Genres: Punk / Hardcore / ScreamoRelated artists: Sender Receiver, The Skabortionists, Pukers, Racoo-oo-oon, Dunebuggy, Trash Dog and Wet Hair.
Country: Cedar Falls, Iowa USA
Years Active: 2003-2005
Song: "Who's on First, Who's on Second"
Album: "The Tarpit"
Year: 2005
Label(s): Records of the Damned / Waking Records / Slave Union
This post's artist is from the September 2014 Mix. This is track #7.
You can download the September Mix#9 right here or get the new October Mix#10 here.
For fans of: Ice Hockey, The Fiction, Ten Grand, Coma Regalia, For Want Of, Bravo Fucking Bravo, Khayembii Communique, The South, Wolves, Orchid, Kodan Armada, Occam's Razor, Twelve Hour Turn, Sutek Conspiracy, We Were Skeletons, Tipping Canoe, Innards, Deers!, The Usual, Off Minor, Light The Fuse And Run, The Setup, Dear Tonight, Logs and This Flood Covers The Earth aka PROPER SCREAMO.
I'm thinking that HUGS are pretty obscure, as I never see anyone posting about them or referencing them. They played chaotic ,abrasive, raw, jangly and discordant hardcore/screamo with dual vocals along the lines of Orchid, For Want Of, Wolves, Khayembii Communique and Ice Hockey. The songs were sometimes basic and sometimes complex, but always explosive.
"Transposition of the Greater Vessels" has some pretty decent clean singing ala Kodan Armada or Khayembii Communique. I adore the band's dual vocals especially on "Who's on First, Who's on Second" which is such a fucking good track and reminds me of Wolves. I'd also recommend checking out "Run!" which is a massive song with an imposing intro that initially gives more nods to Old Man Gloom than screamo and overall the track sounds a heck of a lot like The Setup.
The bass riffs, oh my god the bass riffs are so good. Need some examples? How's about near end of "Who's on First, Who's on Second" (around 1:29-1:38), beginning/middle of "Some Great American West" (from 50 seconds to 1:30) and in the middle/end section of "Death of a Postmodernist" (starts at 0:57). Point made. I did not see the sheer brilliance of the bass riffs until my wife played one of the tracks for me and told me to focus on it. She was a little obsessed HUGS. Clever girl. Take her word for it, and mine, that HUGS was a seriously fantastic band that was passed over by a lot of people. Imagine if Off Minor and The Fiction if they were more punk and less jazz...back in the heyday of screamo. If you want to liken it to current stuff, I'd say it's a mixture between For Want Of and Ice Hockey.
If you download the discography (here) these audio files were made from my personal records, which is pretty rad, methinks. There's a really good HUGS history including shows, random notes and direct influences here.
________________________________________
2003 - Hugs 12"EP
2005 - The Tarpit 12"LP
(2003) HUGS - "Transposition of the Greater Vessels" (from 'Hugs')
(2003) HUGS - "Death of a Postmodernist" (from 'Hugs')
(2005) HUGS - "Some Great American West" (from 'Tarpit')
(2005) HUGS - "Who's on First, Who's on Second" (from 'Tarpit')\
(2005) HUGS - "Run!" (from 'Tarpit')
2005 - The Tarpit 12"LP
________________________________________
(2003) HUGS - "Transposition of the Greater Vessels" (from 'Hugs')
(2003) HUGS - "Death of a Postmodernist" (from 'Hugs')
(2005) HUGS - "Some Great American West" (from 'Tarpit')
(2005) HUGS - "Who's on First, Who's on Second" (from 'Tarpit')\
(2005) HUGS - "Run!" (from 'Tarpit')
________________________________________
HUGS out of print mp3 discography download
(download here)
________________________________________
