Hose

Originally posted June 27, 2008
Hose was the first band by now legendary cult figure Rick Rubin. What got my attention was the fact that Rubin was a really huge Flipper fan, and also that both releases made by Hose were not so well known. Maybe were those records not so great? Was Hose just a bad copy of Flipper? I couldn't disagree more! Hose was great noisy artcore – or call it as you want – at its best. Because let's face it… how can you go wrong with slow bass intros and feedbacks?

 Rick Rubin

“A chubby NYU student from Long Island wearing tight leather pants and bullet belts, Rick was quick to throw dad's money around. His first Rock Biz foray – an uptown/downtown fusion gig with Heart Attack, Liquid Liquid and Treacherous Three at the Hotel Diplomat – was a total flop. Before he got involved with the Beasties, Rubin played in THE PRICKS and in HOSE – a funny Flipper-style act who'd do ultra-slow versions of Rick James' Superfreak and Black Sabbath's Sweet Leaf.” Steven Blush (American Hardcore)

Rick Rubin and Mike Espindle performing at Maxwells around 1985. The Mystical Beast

“Flipper was a conceptual art project masterminded by a group of (relatively) old San Francisco punk hippies. No doubt, the first few singles and the Generic Flipper LP are crucial records, among my favorites. And Hose desperately wanted to make records that sounded like Flipper. But Hose were an uncalculated, reckless and downright foolish band, just happy to be there, pissing off their neighbors. Flipper is smart, Hose is dumb. And dumb usually wins in rock.” James Barber (Reckless Country Soul)

“Released in the same year as their other record, but unlike on the 12", their NYC adaption of the Flipper sound works pretty well here. Mobo and Zoo are extremely noisy mid-tempo hardcore songs with really evil feedbacs, similar to Flipper but not as weird; Girls is a fast simple thrasher. Cool EP.” Burkhard Järisch (Flex! #3)

Hose – Only The Astronaut Knows The Truth

Hose – Mobo

More info: Where’s Your Bag? and Rick Rubin, The Early Years (bottom of the page).

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Last but no least, endless thanks to Rockin' Rex for being so extremely kind to send me the mp3 files and to Mike Cutlet for getting in touch.