The Wild Moccasins
Late, late, late on this one, as always. The Wild Moccasins have been steadily been making a name for themselves for quite a while now, and they just keep getting better and better as they go. Right from the start, they’ve had this ultra-sweet cheeriness about them, a vibe that’s endearing as hell, honestly — they were (and still are, really) just a bunch of kids out to play music they love, have fun, and maybe see the world.
Of course, that doesn’t mean they play vapid, pointless indie-pop; not by a long shot. It’s just that the shiny-clean, melodic, insanely catchy pop they play is bright and sunny and pure-sounding as the morning dew. The Moccasins are sneaky, though, downright devious, and underneath those seemingly simple, easy, insistent pop melodies are some extremely thoughtful songs — the band’s songcraft gets better each time I see/hear ’em, and it’s an awesome thing to witness.
The focus is usually on singers Cody Swann and Zahira Gutierrez, which makes sense given that the pair’s boy/girl vocals are right up there in the front, bouncing and swooping over the music; they make me think (in the best possible way) of Mates of State or 1997, both by virtue of their unaffected sweetness and the call-and-response style they tend to use. The rest of the band, though — John Baldwin on drums, Nick Cody on bass, and Andrew Lee on guitar — is equally impressive, nonchalantly blazing through track after track of candy-coated jangle-pop that pulls together everything from Papas Fritas to Tullycraft to Belle and Sebastian.
The band’s got two releases out so far, 2009’s Microscopic Metronomes EP and 2010’s first full-length, Skin Collision Past, the latter of which was re-released on a much larger scale by New West Records in the spring of 2011. Now that they’ve signed to New West, too, they’ve supposedly got a new album on the way, so I’ve got my fingers crossed on that front…
I’m happy to see that they’ve been touring quite a bit outside of the H-town environs, by the way, including at least one jaunt on over to Europe(!). Each time they head out, the Mocs come back tighter and tighter; here’s hoping they keep it up.
- Yr. Weekend, Pt. 2: The Suspects 25 Anniversary + The Ex-Optimists + The Cryptographers + A Sundae Drive + Wild Moccasins + VODI + John Allen Stephens + More
- Shovels & Rope, Little Seeds
- Live: Paste Untapped Festival Houston
- Wild Moccasins, 88 92
- [UPDATED!] Giveaway Time: Paste Untapped Houston, This Saturday
- Let The Bass Drop: Surviving FPSF 2013, Day One
- Musician to Musician: Buxton
- Yr. Weekend, Pt. 1: Vacation Eyes + Mydolls + SXSW Overflow 2013 + SCN Zine Release + Devil Killing Moth + More
- Yr. Weekend, Pt. 1: FPH 10 + EELS + Nicole Atkins + Dax Riggs + Gabe Bravo’s Birthday + More
- Yr. Weekend, Pt. 1: False Idols + Peloton + A Sea Es + The Temper Trap + Two Star Symphony + More
- Yr. Weekend, Pt. 1: When We Ruled H-Town + Sing Your Life + RACES (Rev’d!) + More
- Tonight: Grandfather Child Hits the Road, at Warehouse Live
- Yr. (Early) Weekend, Pt. 1: Weird Party (Rev’d!) + Wild Moccasins (Rev’d!) + Dax Riggs + Web Awards + Broncho (MP3!) + More
- The Wild Moccasins, “Gag Reflections”/“Summer of Love”
- 2012 HPMAs Ballot, Now Online (UPDATED x2!)
SCR AWARDS! SCR AWARDS! SCR AWARDS! LOL…
Dude, don’t tempt me. First prize in each category would be a half-drunk bottle of Saint Arnold’s… ;)
Hey Jeremy,
Thanks for supporting The Suffers! II was really shocked Folk Family Revival and Tyagaraja weren’t nominated because they’re so good! Anyway, I think SCR Awards would be really cool!DO IT!
Kam
Where did y’al get this update from? I talked to the Houston Press and they said it wasn’t one a day, just one per email.
Hi, just wanted to let you know it is only one vote per email address:
From: Allisen Picos
Date: Tue, Jul 3, 2012 at 9:10 AM
Subject: Re: HPMA one vote per day?
What it says on the site is true – we are only counting one vote per email.
Thanks,
Hrm. Okay, I guess I got some incorrect info on that; sorry, everybody! Amending the post now…
Thanks, Nick & Dug, for pointing out my error, and apologies all ’round once again… :(
Hello all,
I am the Marketing & Events Director for the Houston Press. In the past, voting has been once per day, but this year, we are only counting one vote per email. Apologies if there was any confusion. We feel that counting just one vote per email will be a more accurate way to determine the best of the best. Good luck to all. See you at the Showcase on Aug 5th.
PS: Save the Date for the Awards Ceremony. We will be announcing the winners on Aug 8th at Warehouse Live. For updates visit – http://www.HPMusicAwards.com
Thanks!
Very cool — thanks for the clarification, Allisen, and I’m sorry for the mixup! I agree that one-person-one-vote’s the better way to go, definitely. :)
Yay! Democracy in action. Except…. I have a lot of email addresses! Anyway, I am just voting once.
peace,
nick@freerads.com
peace@freerads.com
nickcooper@alumni.rice.edu
nickcooper@indymedia.org
nick@nickcooper.com
etc. etc.
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