The band will celebrate the release of Hipnotic, their debut full-length album with an epic dance party at Chickie Wah Wah on Saturday night. Bate Bunda, a Brazilian dance and drum troupe, opens the evening.
Daria Dzurik fronts the band as vocalist and steel drum player—and was featured in a TVD 5 Questions in 2012. Daria & The Hip Drops have been performing for the past five years in their home base of New Orleans and at major festivals and venues across the region. The band blends rocksteady, pop, and funk styles into a unique amalgamation.
Since forming the Hip Drops, Dzurik has played with Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band, the Mike Dillon Band, and Disney’s Imagination Movers. Bassist and producer Graham Robinson tours with Grammy nominee Zachary Richard and members of the Radiators.
I’ll let the band explain the music on the new album: “Hipnotic (is) a genre-bending, nautical meets cosmos soundscape… the concept behind the recording is based on the oddities and similarities between the ocean and outer space.”
The band paints that picture thoughtfully by blending electronic samples with funk bass lines and Caribbean based rhythms, reminiscent of recordings from early No Doubt and Santigold. Hipnotic was created with a start to finish listening experience in mind, complete with interludes and abbreviated song recapitulations, but tracks are catchy and stand strong independently.
