Hunx Without His Punx

Seth Bogart of Hunx And His Punx now has his own solo project with his debut album Seth Bogart. Bogart does not go too wildly in any direction away from what he has done in the past, but this solo album does help reveal what he is able to create when he can stretch on his own.

Seth Bogart begins with “Hollywood Squares.” Scratchy with a heavy bass line, it has a throwback element back to the era of early video games. While the music keeps up a really upbeat and catchy pop tune, the lyrics hint more towards the negative influences of what it means to be “Hollywood” and also what it means to revolt against it. “Eating Makeup” follows a similar formula of keeping it upbeat with musical content while commenting through Kathleen Hanna’s voice the obsessive build up of makeup for women. To help break up these social commentaries and bubblegum pop, “Forgotten Fantazy” slows the album up with its more mellow beat to help support the breakup message in it. Songs like “Lubed” and “Flurt,” though, bring the album back to its bubbly upbeat pace without becoming too introspective.

Seth Bogart has a lot happening in each of its songs, each playing out their own full-length stories. The songs also go back and forth between being either a commentary on pop culture and having a straight forward pseudo-80s throwback (even the album art helps push this). When the commentary is happening, like in “Eating Makeup,” everything melds together; the music fits the commentary and the commentary is relatable, relevant and does not try to overextend itself. When the focus shifts back over to the ’80s nostalgia, though, the lyrics enter an unfortunate repetitive loop and even the music itself becomes less layered and textured. A little bit of a shaky solo album, but not anything that Bogart cannot bounce back from.