Hipster Pug - Signal From The Universe

Hipster Pug

Signal From The Universe
self-released; 2024

3.9 out of 5

​By ​Dino DiMuro​
​

I was delighted to receive the new album from Hipster Pug titled Signal From The Universe. Though I’m unfamiliar with band leader Tom, I immediately recognized his releasing label as Monochrome Motif Records, an eclectic indie specializing in highly creative artists, stellar sound quality and distinctive graphic designs. So I knew I was in good hands!

Hipster Pug has been around since 2018 and began with Lo-Fi, downtempo tracks. However, after two years Tom wanted to make his own “more personal album, with a story in music form” and that became his 2020 ambient-neoclassical album “Neon Noir.” In 2022 he released his first EP with Monochrome, and has been working on this follow-up album since last year. “While that album was darker in tone,” Tom says, “this is a way more positive album and I hope a bit happier overall.” His unexpected inspiration came from director Wes Anderson: “His movies (have) a 3-part structure where separate stories turn into a complete story; I thought if it works for movies, it might work for this album as well.” In all honesty I would not be able to tell the different sections apart, but in that way this album is nicely consistent.


The opening “Prologue” is a mostly keyboard-based instrumental that reminded me of the expansive openings of the Yes albums “Close To The Edge” and “Relayer.” Already there’s layers of amazing sounds, some possibly reversed. I can definitely see where the term “neoclassical” comes from! Tom says he wanted every part to have a different, distinct sound and thus part one is “more experimental and a bit darker.” The prologue behind us, “Act 1 The Signal” is a track that represents change. It immediately becomes a bit more challenging, with distorted radio transmission sounds playing atop a pulsing synth pattern and wild drum kit beats. Definitely chaotic but totally intriguing! 

“Signal From The Universe” slows way down, though as befits the title there’s all sorts of garbled radio hash. Like the previous track these sounds are scattered atop drums and synths, though the main sounds are like a symphony of old telephones ringing in space. “The Maze” has string-like patches that suggest Brian Eno’s classical experiments. As it progresses, the music could almost be from a movie soundtrack. “Yugen” was like a Sunday service on Mars, with churchly organ interwoven with space-like samples. Extremely cool! “Follow Your Own Path” concludes Act 1 with an uptempo excursion featuring a lead instrument that resembles Zamfir’s pan flute music.

Tom says part two is more ambient. “Act 2 Cave Of Memories” is about “letting go of the past and looking forward to what you would like.” The opening section is a swirling miasma of flute-like textures that sounds awesome in headphones!  “Des Vu” has sounds that could be harps along with the lowest keys on the piano.

“The Cave Of Memories” has been created and mastered to sound like it’s coming from a cave, albeit one with strange wind chimes or tinkling glass. “Lights Part II” is a sequel to the “Neon Noir” album track, but has a much different, more expansive arrangement. The overlapping melodies are the audio equivalent of those time lapse movies of flowers opening in the sun. Trigger alert: it gets very loud before gently fading down and away. 

The final section “Act 3 New Beginnings” is described as “a mix of Neoclassical, Ambient and a bit of Experimental.” After an Eno-like intro, “The Path Of New Beginnings” takes us on a spooky 7-minute sojourn with a bed of lush synths accompanied by what sounds like clinking soda bottles. Later the samples very much approximate an orchestral string section with sweeping, sawing melodies. At four minutes we switch to a lovely chiming keyboard theme with ghostly voices swirling behind it, with the final section revealing a Phantom Of The Opera grandeur. “Inner Beauty (awake)” is a total surprise in that a virtual Boy’s Choir introduces a blast of minimalist classical music with galloping horse percussion. I found this track to be the most magical of all. The final two tracks are heavily classical and quite epic.

There’s much more than I could fully describe here, but I highly recommend this amazing work and the eclectic label it comes from!

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