Led by frontwoman Irene Rehviashvilli, the Buffalo-based quartet Alpha Hopper formed back in 2014. And since their formation, the Buffalo-based act have developed and honed a frenetic guitar-driven rock sound featuring elements of punk rock, hardcore, noise rock and no-wave.
Interestingly, the act’s recently released third album Alpha Hex Index finds the band diving deeper into their unique rabbit hole with sassy and snotty vocals punctuating a towering wall of angular, power chord riffs and forceful mathematically precise drumming. As the band jokingly describes their sound
“dummy math, noise rock for art-punk drop outs.”
As a result of pandemic-related shutdowns and restrictions, the members of the Buffalo-based quartet decided to record the album themselves in their homes. Of course, because of shelter-in-place recommendations, there were some hiccups in the recording process: instead of being able to track material in a single block, they ere conducted in intervals when the members were able to safely get together to hash out their respective parts. Once they were satisfied with the mix, they sent the files to John Angelo to master the material.
Alpha Hex Index’s latest single “Enskin” is a breakneck and feral ripper, centered around angular power chords, Rehviashvilli’s snotty and bratty delivery, rapid-fire drumming and enormous mosh pit friendly hooks. And while sonically recalling a wild synthesis of Fever to Tell Yeah Yeah Yeahs and math rock titans Cinemechanica, the song lyrically is a call for the listener to armor themselves with the protective hides of creatures and the head and heart of their own spirit.
The recently released video for “Enskin” is a collaborative video created by Tbilisi, Georgia-based wearable sculpture collaborators UTA and virtual reality filmmaker Flatsitter. Directly inspired by the song’s lyrics, the video features characters running around a distinctly European town in wild and colorful costumes — and throughout the video, each character seems imbued with supernatural powers.
