The Hugs will play Dante’s in about 20 minutes, but at the moment they’re huddled together out front, standing on tippy-toes with craned necks to see around the club’s large, pierced and tattooed bouncer. Oregon’s stringent liquor laws keep the high-school-age Portland quartet from entering the club to watch openers the Foxtrots take cracks at a largely seated, not-quite-ready-to-rock crowd. The Hugs don’t seem to mind.
The OLCC might treat the Hugs like second-class citizens, but the band’s collective foot is already in the music industry’s metaphoric door (in England, at least). The band has garnered the attention of some pretty important U.K. music-biz movers and shakers, including James Endeacott—the A&R guy and 1965 Records founder who is credited with discovering the Strokes and the Libertines. Reportedly, he’s close to signing the Hugs.
But this isn’t England, this is Dante’s. Once they’ve been given the green light, the band hustles into the venue like a group of thirsty claim-jumpers, untangling cords and hollering impenetrable teen-speak. Each stylistically disparate member looks vaguely like daytime television’s idea of a rock-’n’-roll persona: the well-groomed twee kid, the smoking psychedelic kid, the Converse-clad “alternative” kid. Frontman Danny Delegato is the Guns N’ Roses-era caricature, his oversized sleeveless shirt and cowboy hat dwarfing his boyish frame. When asked to check his mic, he lets out a howl that dovetails into a squeal.
Despite the band members’ extreme marketability, the Hugs’ live set is hectic and loose, with songs losing structure and Delegato’s vocals disintegrating into Mark E. Smith rambles or Paul Westerberg screams (though I’d forgive him for not catching either reference). Drummer Kelly McKenzie absolutely kills—probably the most entertaining member of a very entertaining band—even if his thrashing can’t keep the rest of the band from wandering into the occasional rock-’n’-roll disaster. He tries repeatedly to end the band’s seemingly endless final song (which came complete with dangerous mic-stand-wielding and a Hendrix-style collapse or two) with little success.
The Hugs’ onstage theatrics prove the band has chops to match its natural talent (it’s hard to believe these are teenagers), but the members still show their age when it comes to songwriting. I leave the club without remembering any specific song—and hoping the Hugs’ development doesn’t suffer as the band rushes forth to become the next big thing.
CJ (WW)
Before they actually sign to London's 1965 Records (home of UK hypesters the View), local band the Hugs are self-releasing their own album tonight. The self-titled effort by these teenage Anglophiles shows a band wise beyond their years, and one keen on producing bouncy pop songs heavy on the hooks and melody. Spoiler alert! Here is the future of the Hugs, as told by me, the Miss Cleo of indierock fortunetellers. Their powerful British connections make them superstars overseas and darlings of the British press. Soon they develop a row with another band—oh, let's say Razorlight—and someone calls someone else a "bloody wanker." They play Glastonbury and the Carling Weekend, and the whole thing spirals out of control after a trip to Ibiza with Pete Doherty and Liam Gallagher. Enjoy it while you can, boys. EAC
Fresh out of high school, The Hugs commanded the attention of two of the biggest and most respected names in the British music industry. Roger Sargent and James Endeacott flew out to Portland from London just to witness the garage/pop-rock band, returning home poised to sign and manage the group of teens.
Now living in London, The Hugs have signed a deal with 1965 Records and Columbia UK. Their debut album is being recorded with Liam Watson (who recorded White Stripes’ “Elephant”) and the band is working with Gus Van Sant for their first music video.
The Hugs is a fitting name for this ambitious group of starry-eyed, still-wet-behind-the-ears Portland teenagers.
Only months removed from their high school graduation, the Hugs apparently caught the attention of prominent British rock photographer Roger Sargent in 2006, after band frontman, err frontkid Danny Delegato pursued him on Myspace. Delgato's persistence paid off and the band will spend this spring recording in London, under the supervision of their label, UK-based 1965 Records.
The Hugs produce a young yet confident British invasion sound reminiscent of the Kinks, the Stones and contemporaries Arctic Monkeys and the Libertines. Virtually leap-frogging Portland's indie rock rat race, these kids are rumored to be talking with state-side major label Sony/Columbia. Not bad, huh?
The Hugs are the band that you wish you were in during high school. Or college. Or right now for that matter. Visceral and earnest, their songs are further along than their playing, and that's a good thing. Everything from the Velvet Underground to the Kinks to early Pavement is here, all being written by chaps young enough to yet worry about declaring a major. Unless, of course, it's declaring which major label they want to sign to, in which case the lucky winner is London-based 1965 records. Not quite a household name yet, the label is the lovechild of James Endeacott, formerly of Rough Trade records, who had the foresight to sign another young and eager band called the Strokes a few years back. Can the Hugs embrace their future as garage rock's next big thing? I, for one, sure do hope so. AY
