The emerging Australian band is making classic rock n' roll.
Rock has been through many shifts since emerging as a genre. Born from counterculture, it attracted the rascals and the rebels before splintering into endless subgenres like indie, punk, grunge and alternative.
Hugernaut makes music for those who miss the good old days. Bringing together the full-throttle energy of rock’s golden age with impressive songwriting chops, the future’s looking bright for these young bucks.
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Released in September, Blackout State of Mind features songwriting from each band member and depicts the various states of mind that arose during the Covid 19 lockdowns. On Where is the Sun? they pine for the outside world, before lamenting the new normal on the album’s closer, Maskface.
Clocking in at over nine minutes long, the opening track, Reach For The Stars, prepares the palate for what’s to come. Moody and melancholic, it showcases Hugo Horvat’s dynamic voice and lilting guitar solos as drummer Gerard Horvat and bassist Gabriel Horvat hold down a steady groove.
The first single released off the EP, Get Ready!, reimagines the 1990s U2 track Zoo Station. The members of Hugernaut believe the track is about the “chaos of world events and the average person should get ready for everyday life to get turned on its head” and have taken it apart and pieced it back together to reflect their interpretation.
By adding a touch more grit and amping up the speed, they’ve created something that feels at once familiar and distinct. In the music video, they play on a smoke-filled stage. Filmed on a handheld camera and dubbed purposefully out of time, the band hopes it throws the audience off-kilter and contributes to the sense of disarray felt in the song.
Recorded between Daylesford and Castlemaine in an old asbestos shed, Blackout State of Mind stands apart from today’s mainstream music sound. Hugernaut says they’ve got more where that came from – stay tuned.
To listen to Hugernaut’s Blackout State of Mind in full, head here.
This article was made in partnership with Hugernaut.
