New HNC (Hazelnuts Chocolate): Cult

Love And Hates get a lot of play around these parts, but I’ve failed to mention the twee-crunk duo isn’t either members primary gig. Both have solo gigs, one of them playing as Miila and the other as HNC. The latter has a new album, Cult, out on Dec. 2 and a good number of samples from the records are available at HNC’s MySpace.

HNC and Love And Hates naturally have a few sonic similarities, chiefly both rely on big beats to move their songs forward. That and the fact Love And Hates performed a slightly different version of the cat-heavy “Kitten’s Breaks” live in Osaka back in October. HNC uses beats in a less hip-hop (and in a less joking way), opting instead to use them as a two-step background for the bouncy tropical pop on top. Highlights from the Cult samples: the Islands meets aquatic dancehall of “Moon Song,” the giddily infectious “Next M,” the hop-scotch pop of “Girl Things,” and the island shuffle of “Mango.” Oh, and all the cat sounds.