MP3 Hubcap - Halogen Sons

Rock and Roll tinted with dust and twang, pop music coated in gravel and rust.

13 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Roots Rock, ROCK: Americana



Details:
With their intently focused live performances and highly anticipated debut CD Halogen Sons, Hubcap have entrenched themselves at the center of Ithaca, NY's vibrant roots-rock music scene. Hubcap plays music that crashes and howls, floats and whispers, often in the same song. Call it rock and roll tinted with dust and twang, pop music coated in gravel and rust, or country music roughed up and kicked around. Marked by well-crafted songs, cutting guitars and driving rhythms, Halogens Sons moves effortlessly from country blues to Britpop, from Motown to art rock, from trashy garage rock to atmospheric ballads.

Formed in the summer of 1999 in Ithaca, NY, Hubcap quickly developed a large repertoire of original songs and unexpected covers, as well as a devoted group of fans. The songwriting, vocals, and rhythm guitar of Steve Gollnick provide the foundation for Hubcap's sound. His voice rises from a whisper to a plaintive snarl, with a touch of that high lonesome sound for good measure. Peter Glanville's tastefully ripping lead guitar work and vocal harmonies add just the right amount of bite and texture to the songs. Drummer Ryan Cady's rhythms both propel and anchor the band, intertwining with bassist Walt Lorenzut's melodic grooves to add color and shape and, at times, bombast to an already eclectic mix. Live, Hubcap is a band as capable of tight, raucous three-minute blasts of acoustic twang rock as it is of spiraling, feedback-laden excursions into outer space. The band's eclectic sound serves them well, making them as comfortable playing in intimate acoustic cafes as it is larger clubs and outdoor venues. As a result, Hubcap has shared the stage with acts as diverse and prestigious as NRBQ, Toots and the Maytals, The Slip, The Gordon Stone Band, Railroad Earth, Mary Lorson and Saint Low, The Johnny Dowd Band, and Plastic Nebraska.

Halogen Sons, released on local collective I-Town Records, highlights the band's strengths and diversity. "Two Bits and Shirtless on Main St." and "Henrietta Universe" are catchy blasts of poppy Americana at its best. At the other end of the spectrum are the propulsive "Fred 'n' Ethyl," which centers around Cady and Lorenzut's angular beats, and the crashing "Episode 9," which showcases the full spectrum of the band's dynamic range. For further contrast, check out the mellow, bass-driven "Constellations" and the acoustic ballad "Fiona," or the swamp blues psychedelia of "Shitstorm." The focused diversity of Halogen Sons is the sign of a band with its own brand of rock that is at once distinctive, adventurous and accessible, rock music that's as sweet as it is intense, and as timely as it is timeless.