Hypoluxo

Brooklyn-based combo Hypoluxo mix observant post-punk songwriting with ringing surf guitars and warm indie pop. Relocating from Florida in the mid-2010s, the group started releasing music in 2016, turning in a pair of crafty albums for Midwestern indie Broken Circles. They delivered their self-titled third album in 2020. Friends and bandmates since high school, Floridians Samuel Cogen (vocals, guitar) and Marco Ocampo (drums) moved north to New York in 2014 and officially formed Hypoluxo (named after a street in their hometown) with bassist Eric Jaso and guitarist John Archuleta. Led by Cogen's rumbling baritone, early releases like 2016's If Language and the 2017 EP Taste Buds often drew comparisons to Brooklyn forebears the National. Prior to their second album, Archuleta was replaced on guitar by Cameron Riordon, helping bring a dreamier sound to the fore on 2018's Running on a Fence album. Hypoluxo's profile continued to rise with each release, each effort earning critical praise and drawing more fans than the last. The band's eponymous third outing appeared in November 2020. ~ Timothy Monger