I wanted to put it out there that my label (Karma Frog) is going to be releasing the sophomore album by Mod Hippie, BIG WOW, in February. The band's first album, TOMORROW THEN, came out in late 2015 and got airplay on 60 stations, including the Underground Garage. The sound of the first album was a more elaborate update on the '60s garage rock sound.
For the new album, Mod Hippie leader Doug McGuire went for a more post-punk/power pop sound, and he enlisted two very significant new contributors to the project: D.J. Bonebrake of the iconic punk band X, and one David Marks on lead guitar.
I produced the album (as I did David's BACK IN THE GARAGE album last year) and for those that are waiting to hear something where David gets to return to the creative, out-there kind of guitar work he's done in the past, you're going to want to get this. The two lead singles are a cover of Elvis Costello's anti-fascist anthem "Night Rally" (which David absolutely SHREDS on) and a song called "Psycho Romeo," where the same guitar that propelled "Surfin' U.S.A." reinvents an '80s new wave groove (think something like Dire Straits in a poppy mood, or the Stranglers). David also does a stellar flamenco guitar turn on another tune called "Been Gone All Day."
Mod Hippie's trademark is great guitar work, and there are a number of other great guitar players featured along with David, including Connor Claxton (the guitar whiz that played on the first album) and Jason Berk (who's pretty well known in power pop circles). If you want a cool, hard-driving, power pop/psych-rock album with truly inventive guitar playing, and also hear what an album anchored by David Marks and D.J. Bonebrake would sound like, Mod Hippie's BIG WOW is for you.
There's no highlight reel as of yet, but I wanted to let Beach Boys fans know this is coming. For further updates, you can check in with me at my facebook page (
www.facebook.com/karmafrog) or at Karma Frog's website
www.karmafrog.com. Mod Hippie's page is
https://www.facebook.com/Mod-Hippie-121465927931992
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