After growing up in Texas and spending several years of my career in Dallas radio, I still try to keep an eye out for up and coming new bands from the good ol’ Lone Star State. Recently a copy of The Hourly Radio’s debut EP, Lure Of The Underground, landed on my desk. The cover looked cool, so I decided to plop the disc in for a quick scan. You know how it goes when you get a new CD, skipping to the middle of each track so you can get to the meat of the song. As I zipped to the middle of the opening track “First Love Is Forever”, frontman Aaron Closson’s soaring vocals caught my ear. As I did some online research on the band, I discovered that they have been known to sneak in a cover of Pulp’s “Common People” into their sets. Now I am intrigued. North Texas anglophiles don’t come along too often, so I continued listening to the EP. Listening closer to the first track, The Hourly Radio takes in the indie-shoegazer goodness of The Stills, utilizing huge crescendos of pedal drenched guitars to support Closson’s fantastic voice. On “Lost & Found” the band found inspiration in War era U2, yet deep down I am also reminded of The Ocean Blue. Yeah, remember them? One of the most mature moments on the EP arrives with the song “Stealing Off”, showing off the kind of musicianship you would expect to hear from a band with a few albums under their belts rather than just one EP. The EP concludes with “Travelsigns”, a track that could have easily fit on Verve’s Urban Hymns album. These Texans have listened to plenty of top-notch Britpop bands, which has impacted their lush shoegazer sounds in quite a positive way. With a self-produced EP sounding this good, I can’t wait to hear what The Hourly Radio has in store for us next. Stay tuned!

The Hourly Radio
Kirtland Records

1. History Will Never Hold Me
2. Live – The Hourly Radio @ The Annex | NYC
3. Velvet Underground Re-Issue Due In March
4. Global Underground To Release New UNKLE 12″
5. Chemikal Underground Documentary Airs Tonight