The bombastic, quirky trio Connan & the Mockasins formulated their trippy brand of indie pop in the early 2000s. Led by Connan Hosford and backed up by Ross Walker and Seamus Ebbs, the group alchemized a sound that nodded to the soporific trippiness of Lothar & the Hand People, the bluesy swagger of Jimi Hendrix, and the puckish bite of the B-52's. It was, in other words, a sound similar to that of fellow Oceanians Architecture in Helsinki, not to mention various U.K.-based indie groups like the Royal We, Misty's Big Adventure, and the Kazoo Funk Orchestra, all of which were exploring similar twee-ish territory at the same time. Connan & the Mockasins independently released a couple of EPs, 2004's Naughty Holidays and 2006's Uuu It's Teasy, before getting picked up by U.K.-based Regal Recordings. The group's first EP on that label, Sneaky Sneaky Dogfriend, was released in 2007. Connan Hosford then returned home to New Zealand where he began working on his solo project under the namd Connan Mockasin. ~ TiVo Staff