Artist description IFIHADAHIFI...hmm...sounds like some overly-clever English majorsdecided to have a go at rock stardom, eh? Well, better English than MathRock says I. So what exactly is this thing called (for the purposes ofavoiding Carpal Tunnel Syndrome hereafter) the HIFI besides an apparentvehicle to slip the serrated, double-edged blade of auspicious wordplay intothe metaphorical ribcage of the unwitting masses? *cough* First off, as they are well aware, the HIFI don't immediately bring anyobvious influences to mind, which is a GOOD thing. As a general rule, if Ihave difficulty describing a band's sound yet feel compelled to sort it outrather than blow them off, then they've obviously made a distinct andpowerful impression on me--so it is with the HIFI. After much reflectionupon their live performances and recorded output thus far, I believe Ifinally hit upon the basis for my explanation of the HIFI phenomena whilerepeatedly listening to a cd of their live-on-the-radio performance as Idrove my 18-wheeler through the post-apocalyptic wasteland of East Texas. Imagine if you will: Weird Al Yankovic goes on tour with Sonic Youth ashis backing band. Each night they perform extended versions of Gary Numansongs until they have driven many of the fashionably-dressed payingcustomers (read: SQUARES) from the front of the stage. They then continueto enthrall the precious few who understand what the hell is going on untilthe soundman and/or club manager cuts off the power and/or the cops show upbecause, let's face it, quality band practice time isn't easy to come by. Essentially, the HIFI are maximally-distorted, unpretentiously-rockingdestructo-wave with goddamn HOOKS, even!!! The songs are absolutelycatchy-as-hell in the basest pop sense fer Christ's sake but, to put a twiston an analogy I never fully understood, many people can't see the trees ofsong construction for the forest of sonic wallop that's the endresult--oblique enough, yes? Take your standard guitar/bass/drums combo andadd a sampler and about 38 effects pedals (all set to "Hiroshima") and topthis off with some keyboardical/synthesizer mayhem that brings to mind thetortured sounds of R2D2 being coaxially-assaulted in the hellish depths ofsome Jawa robotics shop and perhaps the murky picture of the HIFI experiencebegins to come clear. The HIFI excels at burying the groove (much as I ABHOR that term--rockdoesn't 'groove', rock ROCKS but I'm hungover and the mental thesaurussuffers as a result--fuck it) beneath the bombast and even when they makeyou wait for it, the payoff is always worth the pain. New wave pop,post-punk, noise, rocknroll--these are the building blocks always combining,morphing, breaking the surface and submerging back into the stew but beforeI get too art-fuck in my terminology (too late?) let mereiterate--IFIHADAHIFI FUCKING ROCKS. Peer-ee-uhd. My favorite bands ofall-time are Slayer and The Jam so I don't want you questioning where I'mcoming from here--I do not use the term 'ROCK' in all capitals lightly,goddammit. To distill this whole spiel down into the crux of the thing:IFIHADAHIFI are loud, catchy, unique and fun and I don't believe I could putit more simply than that, but I think they had more than one sentence inmind when they asked me to do this so...--Ryan Poortenga

Music Style Chaos Rock

Musical Influences Transformers: The Movie, Tetsuo: The Iron Man, White Noise in general

Similar Artists Bob Ross. Ok not really.

Artist History The history of IfIHadAHiFi is very convoluted, involving a megalopolis 50 years in the future, Mysterious Alien Scientists, Evil Robotic Mandroids, and lots of subliminal algorythms. You'd be better off heading to the homepage at our home base of operations, The What Not Shop (see URL elsewhere), where we guarantee you'll become even more confused.

Group Members Dr. Awkward--drums and electronic ventriloquism Mr. Alarm--low frequency stringed manipulation Yale Delay--feedback (with occasional notes and chords)Noise Lesion--The Hunchback Of Notre Dame Meets The Sears Music Department**1/2 (1943/b&w)

Instruments Whatever we can find at the thrift shops...

Albums We Will Not Be Responsible For Any Damage to Plastic Bowling Balls. This Includes Scratches, Nicks, Gouges, Etc. Use Them at Your Own Risk. (demo)

Press Reviews We tried to get on the 97/107 Fox Roxx Rumble, but failed miserably.

Location Oshkosh, WI - USA

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