“Hugo Largo remains one of the freshest and most contemporary groups of our time. These songs are sweet lullabies for a troubled world.” – Michael Stipe
August 7, 2024 – Today, “great lost band of post-punk” (Louder Than War) Hugo Largo are releasing remastered versions of “Martha” and “Turtle Song” from their 1989 LP Mettle for the first time ever on streaming. Mettle was originally released on Brian Eno’s Opal Records label as a follow up to their first LP Drum, produced by Michael Stipe. Both records are included in the Huge, Large and Electric box set, along with an album’s worth of new material titled Unreleased and Live: 1984-1991, out on September 13 via Missing Piece Records as a three-LP or two-CD collection. Hugo Largo consists of Mimi Goese, Adam Peacock, Hahn Rowe, and Tim Sommer.
“When I heard this band for the first time, I thought this is going to be historic,” said Brian Eno. “I know it will affect other artists and that’s what some music does. When I heard Hugo Largo, I knew that they were this kind of band. That they had taken a position that would open up all sorts of possibilities for other musicians.”
Hugo Largo has previously shared two tracks from Drum, “Second Skin” and “Eureka” featuring Michael Stipe. Along with Mettle, both LPs have long been unavailable, but have garnered cult classic status amongst avid collectors and their peers in the industry including David Byrne and Stipe himself.
Garnering attention for their unconventional lineup featuring two bass guitars, electric violin and vocals, Hugo Largo was a product of the Lower East Side’s new noise scene. Inspired by everything from Peter Gabriel to Sonic Youth, as well as performance artists of NYC, the band set out to mix the noise of the Lower East Side with the grace of Young Marble Giants and Arthur Russell, predicating the ‘slowcore’ movement that soon began. At its core, the band was a group of people trying to push the boundaries of what was expected, and experimenting with uncommon sonic landscapes.
“Hugo Largo was never, ever one of us; it was only all of us,” shares Sommer.
