MUSIC
Huge Pupils, from Leonia NJ
I met them at the now-defunct Basement Gallery in Ewing, NJ, and immediately — from a distance — thought they were infiltrating hipsters. although i was initially wary, i had been booking bands for a couple of shows at the spot & after being told that they were “really fucking good” i was more than willing to at least meet & greet… say hello, catch a vibe… be friendly, y’know? it’s unfortunate that my traumatizing time in and out of Brooklyn (see: Le Rug) bore a prejudice that could have severely harmed the friendship about to be forged. regardless, we talked. and they were nice. “cool,” even…
Turns out they’re from New Jersey (thank gawd) and in a band based in Leonia (north north north) with no other members. “Huge Pupils” features only Sean, on drums, who also sings (shouts/screams/yelps/vocalizes) and Brian, playing bass out of a huge fucking amp. the next time i saw them, it was live… there at the Basement Gallery. everybody seemed to enjoy rocking the fuck out, i was really impressed, and i was happy to walk away that night with some sort of demo in the form of a CD-R, taped in a makeshift pouch, itself taped on to an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper that said HUGE PUPILS, with take-my-number tabs cut out of the bottom that read, alternating, either “Brian” or “Sean.” no phone number.
I got to see them again at The Loft in New Brunswick, where I was sitting in on bass for Dark Surfers & the Yawns. when we heard that a band dropped out, we asked Brian and Sean if they’d be willing to borrow and thrash on our instruments. they did, and it was hugely fucking rad.
Apparently Brian got back from Spain on Friday. they both came out to support the JOYdropper launch party, and it was the first time i’d seen either of ‘em in a while. the Basement Gallery bit the dust as do most things too-good-to-be-true… the last time i saw them was at a show they put together in the basement of a church in Ridgewood — the video above is their set… be sure to check it out. Alien Father played too, in between two midnight-to-9am recording sessions in New York… and though we were beyond tired, we had a great fucking time. They’ll be recording new stuff soon and we’ll be putting on a show as soon as possible somewhere, sometime, and i’m already excited. now’s the part where ya click some links… & watch out for all that ice out there, would ya?:
