Fun High Energy Sexy Pop
Bruce Von Stiers
They call themselves Hank & Cupcakes. They are a high energy pop duo out of Brooklyn, New York by way of Israel. They play at venues like The Electric Company and events like the Utica Music Festival. And the duo is beginning to get a lot of praise and accumulate a pretty fair fan base.
Hank is a guitarist. As for Cupcakes, she is a drummer and vocalist. Both fans and critics have a hard time trying to accurately describe their music. But in a write-up on the duo, Hank calls their music “minimalist pop.” Actually there’s nothing minimal about it. They have a definite full flown energy that is as catchy as it is sexy. Although Hank is an equal partner in the duo, Cupcakes seems to get more of the attention and praise. The purists throw accolades at Hank’s guitar playing, comparing him with some of the great guitarists. But Cupcakes gets comparisons to both Madonna and Patty Smith for her outward sexuality and sometime primitiveness and expressiveness.
They recently recorded a self titled EP. The EP has four songs and a video for one of the songs.
Ain’t No Love is the first song on the EP. It is an infectious tune that will have you grooving within a few seconds. Cupcakes vocals are sexy and the guitar work by Hank is too cool. The electronic sound takes it over the top.
The second song is Pleasure Town. It continues the electric pop pulse of the previous song. The vocals are melodic and the music is very hot.
Roses slows things down a bit. The song proves that Cupcakes has some pretty impressive vocal chops with a gentle touch that will envelop you.
She’s Lost Control is a song from the band Joy Division back in the late ‘70’s. It is an interesting choice for the duo. But Cupcakes takes the song to a whole new height with sultry, seductive vocals.
The last element of the EP is a very fun and energetic video for the song Pleasure Town. It looks like it was filmed at Coney Island or some other coastal amusement park.
Fun, infectious music and an ultra sexy presence is the best way I can describe Hank & Cupcakes. They are destined to be one of the next great pop and experimental acts.
The official site for Hank & Cupcakes is http://hankandcupcakes.com/ You can sample the music from the EP there as well. Their MySpace Music site has the Pleasure Town video along with a couple of live performance videos. The site is http://www.myspace.com/hankandcupcakes
© 2010 Bruce E. Von Stiers