WRAPPING UP 2012 with Hooded Fang

Hooded Fang’s debut UK release “Tosta Mista” is named after a grilled Portuguese sandwich snack. Apparently. But it’s best not to take the tongue-in-cheek, cartoon villain world of the Toronto outfit at face value – even from a band whose (Canadian only) debut EP was called “EP” and their debut album “Album”. Are they are a collective or just a vehicle for chief Fang Daniel Lee? Can these ridiculously infectious beat-pop tunes really constitute a break-up album? Does a 22 minutes and only seven proper tracks make an album? And what’s with the masked Mexican wrestlers?

What is undeniable, except to a few po-faced reviewers, is the effect of the record on the listener: “evocative of summer sunshine and parties on the beach – clean, bright indie pop mixed with ’60s garage and a whiff of Tiki kitsch” said Loud and Quiet. “A record that screams “FUN” across its breezy 22-minute running time... but rather than it sounding like an experiment in kitsch or all surface and no feeling, it really does sound like it’s written from the heart” said The Line Of Best Fit. My take back in March was “listening to this record is like opening a sealed time-capsule from 1968... but rather than diminishing returns retro-nostalgia, “Tosta Mista” feels like a genuine re-tread of garage rock year zero and Lenny Kaye’s “Nuggets” collection. Hooded Fang manage to capture – not recreate - the sense of possibility, experimentation and fun of that era brilliantly... half the length of most albums but twice the psyche-pop fun”.

Here Daniel Lee reflects on the last twelve months for Hooded Fang:

What I will remember most about 2012 is...
The birth of the internet. It came in the form of a 7-billion armed porn monster where ideas are everything and money disappears.

What should be forgotten about 2012...
Clop Clop. It had its day, and now pony cartoons having sex are passé.



The best gig we played was...
Brussels, London, Leeds, Glasgow, Manchester, Berlin, the moon.

The best gig I saw was...
Ariel Pink at Constellation, the surf band in Manchester (shit I forget their name). [that would be The Bell Peppers?]

A record from 2012 that will be still be played in 10 years time?
Slim Twig "A Hound At The Hem", Ariel Pink "Mature Themes".

Overlooked in 2012?
Probably everything good.

And what can we look forward to in 2013 from Hooded Fang?
New record, stupid costumes, purchasing of ponies, holograms, digital fictional live players, extra heads, extra head.

Hooded Fang toured the UK in May with Howler, having to bump a show for Underachievers Please Try Harder at The Castle until the autumn. Sadly I missed both chances to see the band live but let’s hope a return visit to accompany new album “Gravez” is on the cards.

MANCHESTER GIGS IN MUSIC: November 2012 Pt.1

And if you thought October was busy... there's more gigs, more clashes and more all-dayers in November. This month Comfortable On A Tightrope is Eight so is putting on several gigs including an excellent eight band weekend at Islington Mill. Same venue and others around Salford play host to Orbit: A Show In Seven Parts this weekend which promises choirs on roofs and outlandish far-out sounds from the team behind Sounds From The Other City. A band from each event featured below.

As ever a mixtape of bands playing Manchester this month to help inform your gig-going decision-making - link in the post below this one

Manchester Gigs In Music Mixtape: November 2012 [60 mins / 68 MB] - download here.

Hooded Fang Clap [2.41] (9 Nov The Castle BUY TICKETS)
The Soft Moon Die Life [6.13] (26 Nov Ruby Lounge BUY TICKETS)
Fucked Up Queen Of Hearts [10.50] (14 Nov Deaf Institute BUY TICKETS)
Schwervon American Idle [12.35] (1 Nov The Castle BUY TICKETS)
Owl Babies Come Down [15.22] (2 Nov Dulcimer BUY TICKETS)
Sea Pinks A Pattern Recognition [17.35] (16 Nov Islington Mill BUY TICKETS)
DIIV How Long Have You Known? [21.06] (20 Nov Deaf Institute BUY TICKETS)
Holograms Chasing My Mind [23.35] (10 Nov The Castle BUY TICKETS)
Planningtorock The Breaks [28.06] (4 Nov Islington Mill BUY TICKETS)
Halls Roses For The Dead [32.01] (12 Nov Soup Kitchen BUY TICKETS)
Golden Fable Sugarloaf [35.32] (9 Nov Kraak BUY TICKETS)
Hey Rosetta Yer Spring [40.23] (8 Nov Soup Kitchen BUY TICKETS)
Great Lake Swimmers Easy Come Easy Go [44.48] (30 Nov Night & Day BUY TICKETS)
Arbouretum False Spring [50.23] (6 Nov Kraak BUY TICKETS)
Kaatskill Mountains Murderer [52.29] (6 Nov Kraak BUY TICKETS)
Ty Segall Band I Bought My Eyes [56.45] (8 Nov Deaf Institute BUY TICKETS)
Richard Youngs Sky Is Upon You [60.23] (3 Nov Kraak BUY TICKETS)

Not forgetting:
1 Nov Julia Stone + Paul Thomas Saunders RNCM / 1 Nov Tame Impala The Ritz / 1 Nov 2:54 Soup Kitchen / 1 Nov The Heavy Deaf Institute / 1 Nov Pale Seas Trof Fallowfield / 2 Nov Kult Country + Peace Signs Islington Mill / 2 Nov Pandora's Box: Johann Jóhannsson Ensemble RNCM / 3 Nov The Dreaming Spires + Walton Hesse Ducie Bridge / 3 Nov Reptile Youth Night & Day / 3 Nov How To Dress Well Soup Kitchen / 3 Nov Polica Academy 3 / 3 Nov Jesca Hoop Deaf Institute / 4 Nov Orbit Islington Mill / 4 Nov Darkstar Soup Kitchen / 4 Nov Ringo Deathstarr Night & Day / 5 Nov Darren Hanlon The Castle / 5 Nov Laetitia Sadier Deaf Institute / 6 Nov Crowns The Castle / 6 Nov Death Grips Sound Control / 7 Nov Julian Cope Ruby Lounge / 7 Nov Savages Gorilla / 8 Nov Easter The Black Lion / 8 Nov Jesse Rose + We Are Willow The Castle / 9 Nov I Am Kloot st Philips Church / 9 Nov Sea Of Bees Night & Day / 9 Nov The Wedding Present / 9 Nov Still Corners Soup Kitchen / 10 Nov Post War Glamour Girls Roadhouse / 10 Nov Lau Deaf Institute / 11 Nov Jonny Kearney & Lucy Farrell Kings Arms / 11 Nov El Perro Del Mar The Castle / 11 Nov Saint Saviour Trof Fallowfield / 11 Nov Simon Scott + P Jørgensen + riverrun Kraak / 12 Nov Exitmusic The Castle / 12 Nov Dingus Khan Night & Day / 12 Nov The Crookes Sound Control / 12 Nov Buck 65 Deaf Institute / 12 Nov Alabama Shakes Academy 1 / 12 Nov Broken Hands + Deaf Club Trof Fallowfield / 13 Nov Haim Deaf Institute / 14 Nov Saint Lou Lou Soup Kitchen / 14 Nov The Revival Tour Academy / 15 Nov Neil Halstead Kings Arms / 15 Nov Moulettes Soup Kitchen / 15 Nov The Neighbourhood Deaf Institute / 16 Nov Glissando + Fieldhead + The Rustle Of The Stars Sacred Trinity Church / 16 November The Pastels + Former Bullies + By The Sea Islington Mill / 16 Nov Destroyer Sound Control / 16 Nov La Shark The Castle / 16 Nov BEAK> Deaf Institute / 16 Nov KXP + Plank! Soup Kitchen / 16 Nov Supersilent RNCM / 17 Nov Swans Sound Control / 17 November Veronica Falls + Verity Susman + La La Vasquez + Apostile Islington Mill / 18 Nov Gravenhurst Night & Day / 19 Nov Meursault Night & Day / 20 Nov Goodnight Lenin The Castle / 20 Nov Matthew Collings + Focal Gaol + Ryoko Akama Kraak / 20 Nov The Revival Hour Band On The Wall / 21 Nov The Dirty Three Manchester Cathedral / 21 Nov The Spinto Band Ruby Lounge /21 Nov Paatos Night & Day / 21 Nov Stubborn Heart Trof Fallowfield / 22 Nov First Aid Kit The Ritz / 22 Nov Jupiter + Juveniles + Yan Wagner The Castle / 23 Nov Lucero Night & Day / 23 Nov Father John Misty Deaf Institute / 23 Nov Shinies The Castle / 23 Nov Iceage Soup Kitchen / 24 Nov The Sundowners Soup Kitchen / 24 Nov Purity Ring Sound Control / 24 Nov Juan Zelada Deaf Institute / 25 Nov Heart-Ships The Castle / 25 Nov The Fall FAC251 / 25 Nov Martin Rossiter Deaf Institute / 26 Nov Dead Sea Scrolls Deaf Institute / 26 Nov Chain And The Gang Trash Kit Kraak / 26 Nov Shearwater St Philips Church / 26 Nov Kodaline Night & Day / 27 Nov The Staves Deaf Institute / 28 Nov Dan Mangan Deaf Institute / 29 Nov BC Camplight The Castle / 30 Nov Luke Abbott + Ghosting Season + Pye Corner Audio Kraak / 30 Nov The Lovely Eggs Roadhouse / 30 Nov Chew Lips Deaf Institute

HOODED FANG Tosta Mista

Listening to this record is like opening a sealed time-capsule from 1968. Inside are 10 perfectly preserved specimens of fuzzy garage-pop replete with heart-gladdening optimism and groovy beats. It’s fantastically fresh and immediate. True if you want more recent reference points, you can hear some of that languid Strokes NYC cool in the chug of ‘Brahma’ or the peppy summer sounds of The Drums in the surf-leaning ‘Vacationation’. But rather than diminishing returns retro-nostalgia, “Tosta Mista” feels like a genuine re-tread of garage rock year zero and the Lenny Kaye’s “Nuggets” collection. Hooded Fang manage to capture – not recreate - the sense of possibility, experimentation and fun of that era brilliantly.



Song lyrics can sound mock-profound and deeply allusive (“they call me Poncho / but I ain’t got no partner today“) but the whole package is an immediately accessible psychedelic pop triumph. Apparently it was written in the aftermath of the end of a five year relationship between singer/guitarist Daniel Lee and bassist April Aliermo but it sounds more delirious than despondent, more exuberant than exhausted by relationship woes.


It’s a brief album: seven songs proper with three Joe Meek-meets-noir soundtrack instrumental snatches between tracks but it doesn’t feel skimpy or slight. Even those three ‘Big Blue’ interludes sound like extracts from a larger, unrealised project. This album is the Toronto collective’s second after their self-released, Canada only “Album” in 2010 but their UK debut. It did make it to these shores at the end of last year but is now picked up by Full Time Hobby for a full UK release, out today. I hope the label hasn’t added any tracks to it – they’re not needed. Half the length of most albums but twice the psyche-pop fun.

Hooded Fang - ESP by fulltimehobby

Hooded Fang Tosta Mista [BUY]