Ladies and gentlemen, welcome, welcome, to 75 Bands in 75 Days, where we bring you the best talent that the Pacific Northwest has to offer, one day and one band at a time. Today, we’re going totally hazed-out and funky with our next band, Hustle & Drone.
Hustle & Drone is an experimental electronic trio from Portland, Oregon, with a steady footing in a bevy of genres including dream pop, noise music, alternative R&B, ambient drone music, and revivalist synthfunk, with a little bit of vaporwave thrown into the equation. It may sound a bit cluttered, and it is, but that doesn’t stop the music that this band produces from being very catchy and bouncy.
To date, Hustle & Drone has had two releases, their self-titled debut EP from 2012, and HOLYLAND, which came out in September of this year. Both are essential listening if you’re a fan of experimental music and/or are looking to get into some of the strangest material that the Portland scene has to offer. Like a lot of experimental electronic artists, in their studio releases, Hustle & Drone seem to have the bigger picture in mind, pacing their albums out with songs that progress from being slow to loud and abrasive, sections that transition effortless from one musical style to the next, and having nice bookends to their albums, with warming openers and climactic finishers.
When you put on a Hustle & Drone album, don’t expect to just get slammed with one mood or idea song after song. Hustle & Drone is a band prepared to drag you through hell and high water, only the water is pure liquefied DMT.
Purchase either of the trio’s releases here.