Wild Moccasins

Houston's hot Wild Moccasins shoot for the stars with new album and national tour

Wild Moccasins garnered national attention for their last album, 88 92, and will set out on a national tour behind their latest.

Arturo Olmos

The time is now for exciting Houston indie rock band Wild Moccasins.

It’s been a long four years since the quartet’s last album, 88 92, garnered national acclaim, but they are back and more confident than ever, touting their new – and best – album yet, Look Together. The band celebrates its release at White Oak Music Hall Saturday, July 7.

Led by songwriters Zahira Gutierrez (vocals/keyboards) and Cody Swann (guitar/vocals), and joined by Avery Davis (drums and percussion), and Nicholas Cody (bass), Wild Moccasins return after a grueling two-year tour cycle following the release of the successful 88 92, and two years of writing and recording their new album. The time away gave the band a chance to regroup and plan their next steps.

Their response: go bigger. Look Together eschews much of the jangly indie-pop of previous work, incorporating heavier guitar riffs and a healthy injection of synths, all the while retaining Gutierrez and Swann’s innate sense of melody. It modernizes their sound, drawing on ’80s new wave, ’70s disco, and today’s pop music.

“It was definitely all on purpose,” Gutierrez tells CultureMap, over a glass of happy hour wine at Houston restaurant, Brasil. “I think that, personally, Cody and I wanted to go a different direction. We wanted to work with a producer we never met before, we wanted to get out of Houston.”

That producer turned out to be Ben H. Allen III, who manned the soundboards for acclaimed acts such as Gnarls Barkley, Cut Copy, Matt and Kim, and Animal Collective. After an initial email that those in the band thought might not be returned, Allen invited the band to his Atlanta studio for several writing sessions, eventually recording the results.

“We found him because he did a wide range of indie records that we really liked, like Deerhunter, Cut Copy, and Belle and Sebastian,” Gutierrez says. “And he also did a lot of pop records like The Pussycat Dolls and Gnarls Barkley. For me, that was great because I love both of those worlds. It seemed really perfect.”

Not coincidentally, the album embraces some of the biggest influences from mainstream music. Gutierrez was listening to Mariah Carey during the writing of the album and it’s that vocal power that shines throughout the 12 tracks. “Seven to One” incorporates Duran Duran riffs, the stomp and wail of album opener “Boyish Wave” would have been a hit for Siouxie and the Banshees, and the self-titled track and “Shooting in the Dark” is vintage Blondie with a perfect mix of synths and electric guitar.

“I feel like it does sound bigger, but I feel like we’ve become more minimal as a band,” says Gutierrez. “Our plan with this one was that Cody and I would write songs on acoustic guitar or piano. The rule was if it didn’t sound good on an acoustic guitar or piano and a voice, then that’s it, it’s not a good song.”

Lyrically, Look Together is a break-up album. Gutierrez and Swann ended a nearly decade-long romantic relationship following the release of 88 92. They decided to stay together as bandmates, something difficult for anyone outside the confines of a music group, let alone two people stuck together in close confines, driving long distances between shows, spending hours at clubs, and doing press together.

But the break-up made the duo stronger as songwriters and friends. It also gave Gutierrez more confidence in her abilities as a writer and performer. On Look Together, Gutierrez comes out of her shell as a vocalist, any sense of the hesitant, almost twee, indie-pop sound of earlier albums obliterated by a woman who can downright sing.

In discussing the direction of the band before embarking on recording sessions, her bandmates gave her full support to take a more front-and-center role, one that she was initially nervous to take on, but one that she ultimately embraced. She now has a major say in how the band looks and sounds, her hands all over the unique group aesthetic apparent on album artwork and stage design.

“I think that I’m at an age where I know what I want and I only want to work with people who can make this particular vision come true,” says Gutierrez, now 29. “As a woman in a band, you’re constantly being told ‘You can’t do that,' or ‘You shouldn’t do that.’ Everyone makes you second guess yourself constantly and that’s something I really needed to get out of. I think it had to take me getting older and going through a break-up and disappointments, which is like most people as they get older.

Following Wild Moccasins’ album release show at White Oak, the group will embark on a 16-date East Coast and Midwest U.S. tour and there are plans to tour throughout the rest of the year. While the previous album put them on the radar of the biggest music publications, radio stations, and concert promoters, Look Together is their shot at the big time, the widescreen sound made for audiences in bigger venues and music festivals everywhere, while still being relatable through its tales of heartache and moving on.

“I feel like this one is more direct and honest,” Gutierrez said. “There’s not much reading between the lines, which is something I did on purpose because I wanted people to understand where I was coming from. I just hope it reaches a broader audience and I hope we can play for a lot of people.”

Look Together is now available for sale on the band's website and on all streaming sites. Wild Moccasins play their album release party at White Oak Music Hall, located at 2915 North Main St., on Saturday, July 7. Cult Camera and El Lago open. Tickets are $10 plus a $2.57 service fee. Doors open at 8 pm.

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Movie review

Adam Scott explores creepy Irish hotel in moody horror movie Hokum

Photo courtesy of Neon

Adam Scott in Hokum.

There are relatively few actors who can switch back and forth between comedy and drama easily, but Adam Scott is the rare exception. He’s equally as well known for starring in comedy projects like Parks & Recreation, Party Down, and Step Brothers as he is for dramas like Big Little Lies and Severance. He’s going the latter route again in the new horror film, Hokum.

Scott plays author Ohm Bauman, who’s trying to finish his latest book. In an effort to avoid distractions and also pay tribute to his parents, he retreats to an Irish hotel where his mom and dad spent their honeymoon. Bauman, who is about as stand-offish as you can get, and the staff of the hotel are at odds almost right away, although Bauman finds a kind of kinship with Jerry (David Wilmot), a seemingly-homeless man he meets in a nearby forest.

Bauman becomes intrigued with the story of the hotel’s closed-off honeymoon suite, which is said to be haunted. His curiosity, though, seems to trigger a variety of strange things, one of which ends with him in an extended stay at the hospital. He returns to the hotel determined more than ever to discover what’s really happening in the honeymoon suite, with things both normal and supernatural blocking his way at every turn.

Written and directed by Irish filmmaker Damian McCarthy, the film’s approach to horror is both subtle and overt. On the good side is Bauman’s story, which gradually gets deeper as more is revealed about his past, especially the premature death of his mother. Bauman’s trauma over her loss influences his thinking and actions, and a possible connection between his current situation and his personal history broadens the scope of the plot.

There is plenty of creepiness to be found in the film, starting with the dark and decrepit nature of the hotel itself. Any building where a particular room is off-limits naturally inspires intrigue, and McCarthy does a solid job of building tension. That’s why it’s strange and disappointing that he gives in to the lamest of horror tropes - a sudden appearance by an odd-looking person accompanied by a big screeching noise - on multiple occasions.

The film is at its best when it features weird moments that are never or only slightly explained. A dead body in a rabbit suit is echoed by the unexplained broadcast from Bauman’s youth featuring a terrifying TV host with bulging eyes and rabbit ears. Bauman’s explorations take him into the hotel’s basement via a dumbwaiter, where he encounters all manner of strange things, including what seem to be witches. Because most of these things are left to the audience’s imagination, they hit harder in the moment.

Scott is known to be understated in his acting, and that skill works well in this particular role. Although he clearly plays Bauman as freaked out, he never indicates panic, and that level-headedness makes his character someone you want to follow no matter how dark the path might be. The mostly-Irish supporting cast is not well-known, but Wilmot and Florence Ordesh make the most of their short time on screen.

Hokum — a title that is also not explained — is a horror film that earns its bona fides through mood more than action. Even though not much of consequence happens throughout the film, it still keeps you on the edge of your seat trying to figure out what will happen next.

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Hokum is now playing in theaters.

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