Do you remember Kristy Swanson’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)? Well, it seems that Kristy isn’t the only one in the family with the skill to entertain the masses. Apparently, Kristy has a brother, Rob (Swanson) who plays a mean bass in a band called hIPNOSTIC. Kristy also isn’t the only one of the two of them that has done some work with films. Back in 2010, a film called The Dead Matter was released, and hIPNOSTIC’s song Ritual was on the soundtrack.
Now, personally, I had never heard of hIPNOSTIC before today. Thanks to Rick Swift, I got a chance to hear the band’s new single, and after I listened to it… well, I lost track of how many times I kept hitting the play button, but it was a lot. So, I got curious and started looking for more stuff about the band.
Come to find out, the band, which hails from Orange County CA., is made up of Blake Hastings (vocals/guitar) and Rob Swanson (bass/vocals). As for who is currently banging the drums, I couldn’t find anything…
In 2004 hIPNOSTIC dropped an album called Dissolve Me, and I dug a lot of the songs off that album. Now they have something new to beat on your eardrums with. A single called Ain’t No Sunshine, which is a h-e-a-v-y rock version of Bill Withers’s Ain’t No Sunshine (1971). I’ve always been a fan of Withers’s version, so I was kind of hesitant on listening to a rock version. Yet, (as is the sign of any good band), hIPNOSTIC beat a somewhat resistant listener into submission with their version and won me over.
The way the song starts out, with Rob throwing down a deep bass line to grab your attention, gives you a feeling that you’re about to have a good ride. Then, throw in some solid drumming and some good vocals by Blake, well, you’ve got a song worth listening to. After hearing the new single and checking out the Dissolve album, I dig their sound and am looking forward to hearing what they throw out there next.
So, if you haven’t heard hIPNOSTIC’s music then you should give them a second and hear what they’ve got going on. To make your search a little easier, here are some places you can find them:
hIPNOSTIC Main Site – www.hipnostic.com
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/
iTunes- https://itunes.apple.com/us/
Spotify- https://www.spotify.com/us/
You Tube – http://www.youtube.com/user/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/hIPNOSTIC_
Instagram – http://instagram.com/
