Hypnosonics – Someone Stole My Shoes

Hypnosonics Someone Stole My Shoes front cover
Hypnosonics Someone Stole My Shoes front cover

Every now and then I take a leap of faith that really pays off.

I’ve been a fan of the Sundazed label for quite a long time now – starting with some early surf collections, they’ve produced some of my favorite reissues. Why they’re headquartered in Coxsackie, NY, not far from my old hometown, I’ve never known – it’s possible their entire operation is some guy working from his garage, but they put out some wonderful stuff. So I always pay attention when they send out their latest releases and check the website for things I may want/need.

They also have an associated label, Modern Harmonic, which puts out even weirder and more eclectic stuff than Sundazed does. And perusing their catalog, I was for some reason intrigued by a disc by a group called Hypnosonics, so I played the sample, and I almost couldn’t hit the order button fast enough.

Now, I knew nothing about Hypnosonics, which was apparently an occasional side project of a Boston area musician named Mark Sandman. I also knew nothing about Mark
Sandman, or his other band, Morphine. But from the description and the samples on the Modern Harmonic website, I was just wowed by this – what would you call it? Art funk? It’s low key, funky, fascinating. There are only two full albums by the band, and writing this up reminds me that I simply must have the other. It’s really unique. There’s a Boston Herald article that explains the group’s history better than I could:

Bought this back in 2020. That’s how long it’s been since I was on the ‘H’ section of my record collection. My, how this project is dragging. If I ever get caught back up, we’ll finally get to the N’s.

Hypnosonics Someone Stole My Shoes back cover
Hypnosonics Someone Stole My Shoes back cover
Hypnosonics insert booklet
Hypnosonics insert booklet
Hypnosonics insert booklet
Hypnosonics insert booklet back cover
Hypnosonics Modern Harmonic label
Hypnosonics Modern Harmonic label

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