New Band Alert! The Hoof and the Heel!

Listen, we’ve all wanted to be in rock bands. We’ve harbored little fantasies about shaking our hips and spilling our souls that never came true. Eventually most of us grew up, graduated high school, and put those embarrassing four-track recordings away never to be listened to again. Of course, we’ve also had those friends who refused to let the dream die. We go and listen to them in dive bars and tell them afterward, “Hey dude. That set was off the hook. No, seriously. If only some A&R people were here!” Despite our protestations to the contrary, these bands are never very good and we can continue on our merry way.

This was what I was expecting when a friend of a friend’s band, The Hoof and the Heel, came to Los Angeles to kick off their new tour. I went to the Viper Room and suspected it be a night of nice, if somewhat unimpressive music. But I was wrong. These guys (and girl) were amazing. When the show started most of the crowd was drinking and chatting amongst themselves. But by the time the set was over, the audience was captured and people were dancing! I don’t remember the last time I went to a show and people actually danced.

This Montreal-based trio have a pretty simple setup of acoustic guitar, bouncy synth and drums, but still manage to write epic pop songs with hooks as sweet as a peach. The best part is while your friend’s band has been together for fourteen years and have that one pretty okay song, The Hoof and The Heel have been together for about four months and can put on a whole show of awesomeness. They’re currently touring around the country, including opening for Jemina Pearl in Brooklyn, and you should definitely get out and catch them when they swing by.

-DJ Bears!