Das Hugs Who?
The Hugs have shared the stage around the world with the likes of: Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Kooks, The Cribs, The Walkmen, The Dandy Warhols, The View, Libertines.
* Currently The Hugs are writing a batch of new songs to be their forthcoming third studio album. Stay tuned ladies and gentleman. High Fives,
& Thank you for reading and visiting our official web site. Scroll below to find out more!
The Hugs
“I love The Hugs from Portland, Oregon. They’re kind of like The Libertines but are taking it all from their own direction. They’re a band who really know how to put a tune together and i’m totally dead excited about them”
-Carl Barat (The Libertines/NME)
"There's a band called The Hugs that I like a lot. They play folk rock. They're a Portland band. I really like their songs."
-Gus Van Sant (Movie Director)
Press
The Hugs are the underage anglophile indie-poppers from Portland, Oregon. With experience closer to the cradle then the grave, expect sugary ballads advising on the tying of laces and love songs minus the bile with shamelessly Libertines-esque "woah ohs"
"With their swooshing swathes of rainbow rock, The Hugs are further proof that someone’s certainly putting something in the water in Portland, Oregon. Like The Lemonheads but with more primal yelping, the moment when their retro-referencing tunes seem to be veering too much in a pleasant, palatable garage-punk direction, their teeny weeny frontman Danny Delegato – the lovechild of Noel Fielding and one of The Monkees – lets go a grave-spinning, throat-slashing screech before indulging in some
energetic and muscle-tearing mic-robatics."
-NME
http://www.nme.com/reviews/the-view/9365
"The Hugs are a four-piece rock ’n’ roll band from Portland, Oregon, who recorded their debut album in England. This makes sense because their music sounds British—not “Greensleeves” British, but rather the brand of British that became popular when groups like The Kinks and The Yardbirds invaded America in the mid-’60s with their ramshackle lyrics and bluesy riffs. The Hugs’s music, though, is also very Oregonian, owing an equal debt to home-state forerunners like “Louie Louie” auteurs The Kingsmen and the late-’70s pre-grunge grunge outfit the Wipers.
-Interview Magazine
http://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/the-hugs/
"You can put that NME cover on hold for now, as their rise to stardom will, at best, be a slow and gradual ascent. But under the floppy bangs and slouched teenage shoulders lies a group of kids on the cusp of something great. Much like the early forbearers of the jangly Brit-rock sound, the Hugs have a loose charm, a perfectly content sense of confidence that permeates throughout their sound, no matter how sloppy it might be at the time. Their music has the rough kinetic energy of Slanted and Enchanted-era Pavement, and the haphazard punk of (pre-crack and tabloids) the Libertines."
"Local buzz band The Hugs are self-releasing their own debut album tonight (May 2007). 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."
http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/Content?oid=309699&category=22153
"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
-Portland Mercury
"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."
"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."
"Though members of the Hugs were just graduating high school when they formed in 2007, they still managed to expertly cultivate an experienced sound. Seemingly inspired in equal parts by the Kinks' TheVillage Green Preservation Society and more modern Detroit bands such as the Go, we are given a perfect contemporary interpretation of the '60s British pop sound. "
-Willamette Weekly
"The Hugs reminded me of a lot of things right off the bat. Danny Delegato (Vocals/Guitars) looked very similar to a young Ben Kweller with his floppy ears hat. In the sound department, The Hugs fall into the category of The View, and The Kooks. The difference is that The Hugs hail from Portland, Oregon instead of the United Kingdom. It was no surprise later that I find out that the band is heading off to England for a handful of shows in order to break out in the U.K. before coming back across the pond."
- Los Angeles Gig Opening for The Walkmen @ The Troubadour)
"Despite their somewhat noxious reputation for having eschewed the norms of the Portland music community, Delegato and crew were devout followers of the tight-knit indie-rock culture. They pulled inspiration from the sounds that populated their early high school years, and have created a unique sound that defies so narrow a definition as "retro."Even on The Hugs' earliest recordings, it is apparent that the group possesses a gift for swagger that cannot be taught--which has only grown since their formation. Prior to their association with 1965 Records, The Hugs had a propensity for mining inspiration from the 1960s and that sound can be heard in their music to this day.Sing-along melodies and fuzz-blasted guitars create a healthy approximation of pop circa the middle of the century, and Delegato's songwriting mantra of "really [thinking] about what people want to hear" pays off for the band as they craft tunes that wouldn't have been out of place at Woodstock."
-Shane Danaher (PSU Vanguard)
"Writhing around, dancing on tip-toes, swinging his guitar about all over the stage in ecstatic determination, Danny Delegato, not only the lead singer and frontman but also the songwriter of The Hugs, was driven by the music. Lifting the guitar over his head, he looked at times like he was going to smash it on stage as so many heavy rockers caught up in the moment have done in the past. However, it was the music seeping into his body taking complete control, as he seemingly moved independently of his own will.
It is no surprise to learn that the band spent time living in London at the beginning of their career, as their garage band sound is reminiscent of many British Invasion rock bands, such as The Kinks and The Beatles. With piercing yells recalling the likes of The Who, it’s a wonder such volume could come out of Delegato’s small, hipster frame. With a stage presence and performance quality of an aged and well-experienced musician, one would imagine him to be much older, even though the members of the band are just now all able to drink legally in the venues they play."
- Jessica Black
