"South"-Hippo Campus
A couple of things I learned this week...
1. The hippocampus is the name of a small region of the brain that controls memory.
2. Hippo Campus is a Twin Cities-based indy-alternative band made up of four 20-year olds who just released their second collection of songs.
Guitarist Nathan Stocker explained to WRGW, “I was in psychology class one day and I was reading about the brain and was like 'Yo, that’s a cool word,' and split it up into two words and that’s a band name!"
And what-do-ya-know... after just a couple of listens to the new Hippo Campus track "South," my hippocampus had me humming the catchy tune during the days that followed.
A simple, easy-going, infectious opening guitar riff leads into a 30-word stanza that ends with, "Chest hum, a black gun and forty dollars." Huh?! Now, I haven't the slightest idea what they're singing about there, but I do kinda like how that curious line rolls off the tongue. "Chest hum, a black gun and forty dollars." Righteous.
By the second verse, Jake Luppen's vocals turn raspy taking on an edgier feel while the lyrics become a little bit clearer, apparently coming-of-age lines from a bunch of coming-of-age guys.
'“South' is about growing up, and recognizing where you come from, and the environment that you’ve grown up in, and accepting that that was then... and this, now,” Stocker told The Current's Andrea Swensson. “It’s about personal growth.”
The band's jangly-guitars may sound more West Coast than Upper Midwest but I also found some similarities to Two Door Cinema Club, Shout Out Louds, Vampire Weekend and maybe the Shins.
For a bunch of nerdy-guys just out of high school I must say they sure do sound like polished recording studio vets. But see what you think. Their music video clip is "South."
