Podcast #17 • Hunter & Wolfe

Hunter & Wolfe joined me from their Brooklyn homes for a deep dive into their friendship, songwriting process and their art as personal therapy. They pen ever evolving indie pop with a growing synth personality. "Michael Maffei’s smooth-like-butter vocals pair seamlessly with Sundeep Kapur’s wailing electric guitar that almost feels like another vocal at times", as The Wild Honey Pie review so perfectly states. The featured track is their latest single, Last Time which will play at the end of our conversation. Hope you enjoy this intriguing convo with Michael and Sundeep. 🐺 

https://www.hunterandwolfe.com/

Miss Grit • Impostor • 2021

missgrit.com

mpostor addresses Miss Grit's life-long navigation through the racial impostor syndrome she experienced as a half-Korean girl "trying to fit into the white space" of the Michigan suburbs where she grew up. 

Palehound - Dry Food- 2015

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Big Quiet - big quiet - 2015

This Brooklyn band compares itself to rem, the clean, big star, the smiths, pylon, the pastels, eleventh dream day, big dipper, au pairs, the shangri las, the embarrassment, drop nineteens... Impressive connections; I see some of them! Have a listen...

Palehound - Kitchen 7" - 2014

The much buzzed about Palehound has returned with a brand new single and an expanded line-up, shifting the solo project to a quartet. The band, Ellen Kempner (vocals/guitar), Thom Lombardi (bass/backing vox), Ben Scherer (guitar/backing vox), and Max Kupperberg (drums) formed during the fall of 2013, expanding on the sound of last year’s Bent Nail EP with stunning dynamics and a heavier tone. Wasting no time, the quartet began playing a whirlwind of tight, jaw-dropping shows throughout the East Coast, quickly establishing Palehound as one of the best up-and-coming bands during the CMJ Music Marathon and throughout Brooklyn’s DIY community. Nearly 50+ shows later, the band will release Kitchen 7" (Holiest b/w Pay No Mind), the first recorded output from the full band, an impressive statement in the evolution of Palehound. EinS Records

franny & zooey - I Love You - single 2014

Franny & Zooey is the name behind Juan Julio Peña and Victoria Linares, two buddies that were introduced at a a punk show in Dominican Republic. Years later, in the sizzling summer of 2012 they decided to make some demos for two weeks straight, giving birth to Bananafish (released on Dufflecoat Records in 2013). 

The band is heavily influenced by 60’s girl groups and 80’s indiepop.

LVL UP - Hoodwink'd - 2014

"Skater slackboard hunk-punks from Brooklyn, Philadelphia pull through again with their crooked take on post-2007's Smashing Pumpkins meets the coked out vibes of the "what-if-Pavement-were-from-the-70s" reunion revival of yesteryear, servin' up a dash of what's better known as THIS side of singer Greg Ruthking's jizzed out stoner fantasy mind."

Parquet Courts / Future Punx - LAMC #13 - 2014

Find the other splits over at Famous Class

We are launching the LAMC split 7” series in loving memory Ariel Panero, our dear friend and a partner in Famous Class.

The series gets its name from the epic Less Artists More Condos concerts that Ariel threw, showcasing amazing bands in some strange and unique venues. Ariel’s driving force was a desire to get the bands he believed in the recognition he felt they deserved. This series simply tries to honor that idea.

For each LAMC split 7” we ask one of our favorite bands to provide us with an unreleased track for the A-side. We then asked them to pick their favorite emerging artist to provide a track for the B-side. Ariel’s LAMC shows introduced New Yorkers to bands they might not have otherwise discovered – we hope that this series will do the same. We’ll also make the tracks available on the FAMOUS CLASS bandcamp page with 100% of the digital proceeds going to the Ariel Panero Memorial Fund at VH1 Save the Music.

We’ve got a bunch of these bad boys coming at you – stay tuned from more details as they come.

No.1: A Place to Bury Strangers/ Ceremony -April 10th 2012

No.2: Future Islands/ Ed Schrader’s Music Beat – July 17th 2012

No.3: Thee Oh Sees/ The Mallard – September 25th 2012

No.4: Deerhoof/ Half Waif – October 23rd 2012

No.5: HUNX/ Cassie Ramone – January 22nd 2013

No.6: Cass McCombs/ White Magic – February 19th 2013

No.7: Ty Segall/ Chad & the Meatbodies – April 30th 2013

No.8: Xiu Xiu/ Lawrence English – June 11th 2013

No.9: Lower Dens/ Horse Lords – June 25th 2013

No.10: Fuzz/ CCR Headcleaner – January 21st 2014

No.11: Mikal Cronin/ WAND – April 1st 2014

No. 12: White Fence/ Jack Name – September 2nd 2014

No. 13: Parquet Courts/ Future Punx – September 16th 2014

No. 14: Speedy Ortiz/ Chris Weisman – October 7th 2014

Neighbors – Failure - 2014

Noah Stitleman returns with Failure on March 4 — the official reboot album from his Neighbors moniker. The Brooklyn-based songwriter/producer emerged from a hail of other bands and bedroom projects in 2012. We shared "Diamonds," from his indietronic debut Good Luck, Kid, but he's aiming for a sound much bigger this time around. Case in point: "Wild Enough." The new single, witnessed above, finds Stitleman cooing over a massive wave of thick synths, tropical drums, and airy effects pushed forward by the occasional ripping guitar solo. The accompanying video is equally ambitious and instantly enjoyable. Helmed by commercial director Philip Van (YSL, Chevy) and choreographed by Celia Rowlson Hall (MGMT, Chromeo), the VHS-filtered clip casts our host as a mad scientist conducting a series of strange yet beautiful tests on his unwittingly coordinated subjects. Failure was produced by Kyle "Slick" Johnson (Modest Mouse, the Hives).

Hospitality – Trouble - 2014

home @ Merge

Hospitality’s self-titled debut album was a love letter to life in your early twenties – a carefree, cartwheeling attempt to see the good in bad decisions, and only the sweet in bittersweet romance. A few years on, their second LP Trouble doesn’t just feel like an expansion of these themes, but a direct sequel: resigned to the realities of late twenties disappointments, and finding lyrical escapism in empty, imaginary landscapes.

Gone are the colourful bursts of brass flooding the choruses. Gone also are the peppy drum beats elevating acoustica into carnival. Instead, songs like ‘Going Out’ swing their hips on a slow, sultry groove; call and response casually falling down the fretboard, with acres of room around the instruments.

Stream the album @ NPR