Boston indie-pop quintet The Hush Now have made an impression on music critics and fans by wedding the “lush sugar-spun melodies of shoegaze’s dreamy heyday” to “the hooky muscle of bands like Guided by Voices and Built To Spill” as one critic put it.
The band’s self-titled debut, released in October 2009, climbed independent radio top 100 charts and drew comparisons to the Cure, Guided By Voices, My Bloody Valentine, and Teenage Fanclub, among others.
Blog buzz and radio play by legendary BBC 6 DJ Steve Lamacq further fueled interest in the band, who had yet to even play their first gig.Produced by David Newton of The Mighty Lemon Drops and released in October of 2009, the debut climbed independent radio top 100 charts.
All the while, the band had already finished recording album number two. After a tour of the west coast, The Hush Now went back into the studio and put the finishing touches on their sophomore effort, Constellations which hits radio in the US and UK in Feb 2010.
Of the album’s first single, Hoping and Waiting, the UK Music Review writes, “a little Stone Roses, a dash of Guided By Voices, a smidgen of Flaming Lips and a dose of Yo La Tengo; one of those classic pop tunes that pop up from time to time and catch you pleasantly off guard.
This is superior indie pop from a band well worth keeping a very close eye and ear on.” Like their debut, ‘Constellations’ pounds along at a blistering, powerful pace, and gladly the invention and surprises are all still there.
Among the many standouts, ‘Thorns’ successfully employs some U2-style delayed guitar rhythms before it’s controlled pressure cooker lets fly with a soaring atmospheric trumpet solo. This is their transient, festival-headlining moment it seems.
“Haven’t you had enough already?” Noel Kelly chant’s as the brakes gently come on. “No” is the answer actually, as they then effortlessly dispense ‘All You’ve Said and Done’, all stop-start blunt rock riffs with a sheen of retro keyboard sounds and subtle horns teasing out every bit of feeling.
(Americana UK)“Shiver Me Starships,” is The Hush Now’s 3rd release in as many years. With the band’s line-up secured including Adam Quane (lead guitar), Barry Marino (drums), John Millar (keys), Pat MacDonald (Bass), and Noel Kelly (vocals/guitar), The Hush Now bunkered down to write and record in May and June in Boston, MA.
Produced by The Hush Now and aided by the talents of Benny Grotto (mixing) and Jeff Lipton (mastering), “Shiver Me Starships,” is a powder-keg effort boasting soaring vocals over The Hush Now’s unique melancholy AM Gold groove that pulses behind curtains of melodic guitar.
The band has not abandoned their sonic trademark but rather, have expanded and taken their sound to the next level. This is the work of a confident and mature band ready to make an impact. The Hush Now are preparing for a tour of the US around SXSW this spring.
And as Ian Fildes at Americana UK points out, “with album number three, amazingly, already in the pipeline The Hush Now are in danger of lapping the competition.”
