Ah, Hikes. Allow me to share with you a ‘then and now’ about our relationship with this Texas quartet.

My first listen of Hikes was in early 2013, incidentally before the emergence of Fecking Bahamas. The band had just released Friends and I guess that, as well as the music, I was attracted to the album’s ode to Nature. The band’s desire to explore and be immersed within nature (to hike, even), and the inspiration this had on their sound, really resonated with me. A year later, Fecking Bahamas was off the ground. We reviewed Hikes’ self titled album with a not-so serious reflection on Fibonacci’s love of a good hike. Or something like that. I actually thought the band would be kinda pissed at us for making no genuine attempt to discuss the music itself and, instead, to spend our time writing bullshit. They wrote to us and told us they loved it.

Fast-forward another couple of years and, by some collection of virtues, we hold our third annual Bahamas Fest in Tokyo with Hikes as co-headliners. I was hanging out in the band room, probably eating corn chips or some crazy shit. The band stormed in about 10pm, shook everyone’s hands and within minutes we were laughing and talking garbage. The guys were so confident, so gregarious and so kind. An hour later they captivated a venue of Japanese fans.

All in all, these are some of the nicest guys, and the most proficient musicians, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and hanging out with. And I’m proud and happy to be hosting their amazing new release Lilt, a rocketing mix of folk, punk; and vivacious, math-leaning, energetic rock. It does feel weird that this was a band that only four years ago I was listening to on a broken laptop, dressed in a raggedy dressing gown with one sock on. Ah, Hikes. Ah, time.