Hook Moon

Ghost Town is a slow, atmospheric track with apathetic vocals and empathetic instrumentation. The song slides in, delivering a character, delivering multiple characters, telling a story. Oddly enough, it’s the minimal drum loops that are the accelerator on the track. About dreams gone wrong. About youth, ‘Ghost Town’ is overall, a very chilled, effortless track. - Dingus

And when the water wasn’t any wetter than the sky
We began to drink the drink that finally drank us dry.
The only thing I thought of as I felt it filter by.
There’d better be wild horses at this ghost town in the sky.
Ghost Town is a dark and haunting song by Hook Moon, the Rochester-New York duo of Gavin Price and Jack Fredrik. It’s the standout track on the (self described) dubpop duos’ self titled debut EP.
The song reads like a soundtrack to empty, meandering, depressing lives that a lot of us end up living. It has a dark, foreboding vibe created by a hypnotic drum loop and lo-fi vocals that captures the mood and spectre symbolized by the songs name perfectly. - New On My Playlist

When IYS last heard from Hook Moon, their self-titled release was a little more on the electronic side of things. With new song “The Fourth of July,” that’s gone and we’re given in its place a more stripped-down and raw side of the Rochester band.

“The Fourth of July” starts slow and simple, dominated by an acoustic guitar and calm vocals and a somber mood to match the lyrics (“I'm sorry my dear, / But enough is enough. / The more sorry we are, / The less we're just in love"). The rhythm and serenity makes the song sound very much like folk, rather than the more electronic sound of Hook Moon’s previous release. The Strokes-like vocals are gone, and the song sounds more akin to Mumford and Sons with hints of early Bob Dylan.

This isn’t a typical folk balled, though. Everything—most notably the guitar and vocals—leads to a crescendo about halfway through filled with emotional intensity before fading off into the same acoustic rhythm the song opened with.

Just in time for the patriotic holiday “The Fourth of July” takes its name from, the song is perfect for a cold beer on a hot night by the moonlight. - In Your Speakers

I’m always excited to listen to bands that come out of my hometown of Rochester, and even more excited when they hail from the same town as my alma mater, Geneseo. Black Elk Speaks made their debut on tympanogram back in September and have since been workhorses when it has come to getting their name out around the Rochester area and beyond.

Six months after the inaugural tympanogram post and a spawn has emerged from the Black Elk in the form of Hook Moon – a two-man act made up of Gavin Price and Jack Frederick. The sound that they have crafted is not a stark contrast to Black Elk Speaks, but it shines a light on what’s perhaps a darker, more brooding side of quartet.

Hook Moon has a mood that seems fitting in a dimly lit lounge, with red lights providing the dull glow. A collage of instruments make up each of the six songs on their self-titled debut E.P., tattooing characteristics in each piece so that no song can be confused with the one following or preceding. Whether it is the xylophone mixed with electronics in “Patience,” acoustic ladened electro-folk in “Patton’s Final March,” or crooning lo-fi vocals mixed with the twang of guitars in “Ghost Town,” these two guys know how to pull you into their story. And it all begins by setting the scene and tone.

Their debut is well-worth a listen and you can grab it for free on their website. And while you’re there, be sure to check out Black Elk Speaks if you haven’t heard them either. They fall more on the rock side of things, but bring as many different instruments and sounds to the mix as Hook Moon does, and are just as enjoyable to listen to. - Tympanogram

We’ve talked about Hook Moon before; they’re an offshoot of Black Elk Speaks, who, if you’ve followed the blog for a while, should be familiar to you as well. They played a show of ours last October, and they’ve sent over their various side projects since we met them. (They’re side projects because half the band moved to New York City while the other half is still located around here. I believe that’s going to change soon, but I’m not certain when.) Anyway, Hook Moon is Jack Frederick and Gavin Price, and where Black Elk Speaks is kind of experimental blues-garage fusion, Hook Moon is more experimental pop in the vein of Animal Collective and all its members’ side projects.

Jack sent along the duo’s new track, a kind of acoustic, glitchy number with competing voices throughout the whole thing. The guys description of their own music nails what I would want to say about it: “echo trills at the edge of a cave, suggesting the presence of a great force existing deep within the breathing earth.” It doesn’t get much more perfect than that.

Jack also informed me that the duo will be back in Rochester to play a show on September 21st at Bug Jar – the night before our just announced show with The Static Jacks – so it looks like it’s going to be a busy week for me. I’m excited. - Tympanogram