Song of the Day: Hookworms - Radio Tokyo

Song of the Day
12/15/2014
Jim Beckmann
photo by Steve Gullick

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Afternoon Show with Kevin Cole, is "Radio Tokyo" by Hookworms from the 2014 album The Hum on Weird World Record Co. / Domino.

Hookworms - Radio Tokyo (MP3)

Nothing starts your week like a case of Hookworms. While they might not have the most enticing name, their songs sure do burrow into your brain and latch on... but in a good way. After the Leeds-based group released their adventurous psych-rock debut LP, Pearl Mystic, on Nottingham label Gringo Records early last year, word of mouth spread quickly about it and their ferocious, mind-bending live shows, and soon UK indie powerhouse Domino signed on to give it a well-deserved wider release under their new imprint, Weird World Record Co. The band wasted no time following it up with The Hum, a more focused LP full of blistering guitars, hypnotic organ melodies, motorik rhythms, and heavily reverbed (and howled) vocals -- all of which you'll hear on today's featured song, "Radio Tokyo" -- as well as the elements that set Hookworms apart from their "psychedelic" contemporaries: a propulsive undercurrent of DC hardcore aggression and the fuzzy raw thrash of 60's garage rock. One listen and you're hooked.

You can catch Hookworms when they take the U.S. in Spring of 2015. They'll be at the Sunset Tavern in Seattle on April 8. Find more dates and more music on their website and Facebook page. For now, watch the new video for "Radio Tokyo":

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