Alpha Hopper have a new single entitled “Big Body” from their upcoming LP Alpha Hex Index for release on November 20th via Hex Records. The third release for the Buffalo, NY-based art-punk outfit, the new effort was recorded by the band’s guitarist Ryan McMullen while the group navigated social distancing restrictions due to COVID. Once mixed, the album was mastered by engineer John Angelo (Gwar, Every Time I Die, Gas Chamber).
Drummer Douglas Scheider explains that Alpha Hopper has always been “a science fiction punk band,” but not in the sense of test tubes and experimental labs. Instead, the band’s vision points to an endless and dehumanizing expanse of technocracy that threatens to swallow the individual in loneliness and isolation. With the pandemic as a backdrop, this psychic alienation is even more vivid on a track like “Big Body.” Regimented rhythm section and interlocking melody lead the charge here, while vocalist Irene Rekhviashvili spits machine-like mantras with robotic precision.
