Formed in 2012, Happy Fangs are pretty new on the scene. Take a listen to their heavy new single “Contagious.”
They haven’t even released their first LP yet, but San Francisco’s Happy Fangs sound like seasoned professionals. Their latest track off of their upcoming album features massive guitar riffs, dissonant tuning and vocals that could blow your ears off (but mercifully don’t).
“Contagious” starts off with a dirgy-sounding guitar riff that could easily have come from the stoner rock textbook. It’s sludgy, a little dirty and unapologetically rock. From the first couple bars of the intro, you know you’re not going to be hearing many synths.
The song erupts as singer Rebecca Gone Bad (real name Rebecca Bortman) screams through the opening lines. Her voice is powerful and dynamic, yet it is sweet around the edges. She busts through high notes like it’s no big deal at all.
If you’ve been longing for a new straightforward rock jam, Happy Fangs might be for you. “Contagious” is no frills, no special effects and no drum machine. It’s straight up drums, guitar and vocals taken back to their most basic forms. It takes the rock genre back to its punky roots, forgoing long guitar solos for crunchy riffs.
Happy Fangs formed two years ago when Bortman and guitarist Michael Cobra decided to start a band together. Bortman came from her previous band My First Earthquake. Her band was a synth-driven pop outfit that was quite different from the current Happy Fangs material. On the opposite end of the musical spectrum, Cobra came from King Loses Crown. This band also featured synths, but leaned more toward an experimental, metal-inspired sound.
Despite both founding members coming from highly synth-driven backgrounds, their latest track for Happy Fangs doesn’t even have a hint of this electronic staple.
Their debut LP will be called Capricorn, and it’s set for release sometime in early 2015. The group performed today at the 2014 CMJ Music Marathon at Grand Victory Brooklyn. They’ll be playing again tomorrow at Trash Bar Brooklyn for CMJ.
Check out their latest release “Contagious” below:
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