Hoffabus is a new album and you MUST, MUST, MUST listen to it.
It is amazingly GREAT……
And that’s all you need to know about it. Click here or on the video embed below to start enjoying this fine work.
Hoffabus is the new project of Brian Naubert, a Northwest songwriter who has been turning out great work since the early 90s. But forget about history, Hoffabus is the present and you need to listen to it RIGHT NOW. Nothing I can say will make this gem of music and emotion come alive in your imagination faster than clicking below and listening to a few golden notes.
Naubert considers Hoffabus his magnum opus, a culmination of more than 20 years writing, recording and touring in support of his music. This is a many-layered, complex, melodic rock album, informed by thoughtful pop, which explores extremely postmodern emotions. It reminds me of the albums Matthew Sweet recorded with Richard Lloyd in the 90s. Like those records there are hooks on Hoffabus, but also lots of edge, depth, sadness, longing. And like those records there’s some great post-punk guitar on Hoffabus, with Naubert playing every lead. He played every instrument except the drums. To beat the skins he turned to Mike Musburger, the Nortwest’s premier drummer and a relative of former CBS sportscaster, Brent Musburger. Naubert recorded all the sounds for this record in his home and then turned to Martin Feveyear (who recorded Queens of the Stone Age, Presidents of the United States of America and most of your fave Northwest albums of the 90s) for assistance with mixing and mastering.
Many songs find Naubert sweetly harmonizing with himself, giving the work a “Smile feel” reminiscent of the legendary, highly personal, long-delayed, masterpiece by that other Brian of pop music, Beach Boy Brian Wilson.
“This is me playing with my eyes closed,” Says Naubert. “Truly letting it out. There is pure emotion here and there is also a finally becoming one with a sound. The ability to express what I feel, what I see, a purely as I’ve ever done.”
As for the title, Naubert says, “HOFFABUS is a swear word that I made up when I was a little kid. I knew it was forbidden to say such words as F**K, S**T, COCK, BALLS!!! So I made up my own swear word HOFFABUS. I knew that for this word to remain powerful it should be used sparingly and when absolutely necessary, so, HOFFABUS was only uttered with passion and accompanied by a face of sheer intensity!”
A proud graduate of Tacoma’s Stadium High School, Brian Naubert currently resides in Portland, Oregon. East Portland, to be exact.
For more information:
https://www.facebook.com/Hoffabus
https://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/hoffabus
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTXlYj7JTWZ9EGO7y0LJ4xg
Here are some choice (and true) quotes from the Hoffabus one sheet:
Hoffabus is a unique juxtaposition: classic rock elements with a strong undercurrent of melancholy synthesizers, buoyed by relentless pop hooks. Naubert’s intoxicating voice is the narrative through-line, weaving tales of longing and nostalgia, of searching for home and grappling with profound loss. His wordplay is wickedly clever, but he never hides behind it. He pulls no punches here, singing fearlessly and playing guitar like it’s his last stand. The result is dreamy, dark, provocative, and yet somehow edifying.
A longtime fixture of the Northwest rock community, Naubert has played in vital bands such as Tube Top, Pop Sickle, The Service Providers, and his mainstay, Ruston Mire, since 1993. Packed with inventive guitar work, beguiling hooks, and artful storytelling, this record affirms Naubert’s importance and utter originality as a musician.
Simply put, Hoffabus is an essential work from an essential artist. Work that should cement Naubert’s place in the formidable legacy of Northwest rock.
A few years ago Brian Naubert had a different band called Ruston Mire. Some close friends of East Portland Blog described it in the following way:
“Brian Naubert is a genius and Steady Jobs and Flying Cars is a modern classic. These are the final words on the subject.”
-Pandomag.com
“Ruston Mire explore everyday pathos with a keen eye for detail that animates at times—and makes heartwrenchingly brutal at other times…The precision-tuned intensity of the performances and the eloquence of the lyrics make it a compelling listen.”
-The Rocket“‘Sick Little Drama’…swings from landmine guitar hate-rock to snapshot Pink Floydian conceptualism in four minutes…[Steady Jobs and Flying Cars] is one of the century’s first essential NW albums.”
-Reef Valmont, Pandomag.com
