Honeymoon Suite Music

I would like to dedicate the following article to Hugh Smith. Hugh was the lead guitarist for Hoggboy and sadly passed away in September of last year. Hugh was adored by his friends and family and will never be forgotten by those who loved him. So long as we are being remembered, we remain alive.

The year is 2001. The grass was greener, summers were longer. The year where the garage rock revival movement began to engulf the music industry. Across the pond over in the United States, a little-known band called The Strokes released their debut album Is This It on the 30^th July 2001. To say that Is This It was momentous would be the understatement of the century. It inspired countless. But Sheffield folk already had their equivalent of The Strokes, and they were called Hoggboy.

Hoggboy were formed in Sheffield in 2001 and consisted of frontman Tom Hogg, lead guitarist Hugh Smith, bass guitarist Andrew Bailey and drummer Richy Westley. Prior to the formation of Hoggboy, frontman Tom Hogg had previously served as guitarist for another two Sheffield based bands in Sea Fruit and Chicken Legs Weaver. Throughout the band’s four years together, they released two studio albums in Or8?, which was released on the 1^st January 2002 and Seven Miles Of Love, which was released on the 8^th August 2005.

I was first introduced to Hoggboy towards the back end of 2022. I was attending a work’s Christmas do and was speaking to one of my coworkers about music. If my memory serves me right, we were discussing our favourite songs from Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP, when he then mentioned that his brother used to be in a band that were quite well known across Sheffield in the 2000s. When I googled Hoggboy and saw that their debut was produced by Richard Hawley and Chris Thomas, I just thought it was the coolest shit ever. The following day was spent hungover and listening to Hoggboy’s discography on repeat.

As does everyone when first listening to a new artist, I started with the band’s most streamed song, ‘Don’t Get Lost’. Think my first impression of Don’t Get Lost was ‘how doesn’t this have more streams’? Granted the song was 20 years old the first time I listened to it, but I just thought it had all the elements of a 2000s indie rock song that would have propelled it to stardom. The melancholic atmosphere of the song has always reminded me a bit of Stereophonics’ cover of ‘Handbags And Gladrags’ – the type of song that you would listen to in the car on a rainy day when you are reminiscing on things. Bittersweet may be the word I’m looking for.

Don’t Get Lost is the third track on Hoggboy’s debut, Or8? To my surprise, I don’t believe that the song was actually released as a single from the album. From what I can find, the singles taken from Or8? are ‘So Young / Call Me Suck’, ‘Shouldn’t Let The Slide Down’, ‘Left & Right’ and ‘Upside Down’. Left & Right and Upside Down, the opening two tracks on Or8?, work together perfectly to open the album. From Left & Right’s opening riff, you immediately gain an idea of what this album is all about – raw, gritty, D.I.Y rock n roll. The album encapsulates everything that made the garage rock revival movement such an exciting time in music history – the sense that anyone could pick up a guitar, form a band and make their mark in the music industry.

One of my personal favourites from Or8? is the closing track, ‘Mile High Club’. Mile High Club is by far the moodiest track on the record, which is great juxtaposition for a song that’s title refers to having sex in the sky. For the first three and a half minutes of the track, there is an almost haunting atmosphere about Mile High Club – dare I say a bit Pink Floyd esque? Around the three-and-a-half-minute mark, we are greeted with the explosion of sound that the track has building up to, and the payoff is exquisite. Perfect way to close the album.

It would be three years before Hoggboy released their sophomore album, Seven Miles Of Love. Seven Miles Of Love picks up right where Or8? left off and further cements Hoggboy as being one of Sheffield’s most underappreciated exports. From a quick Google search, the album spawned only two singles – ‘Believe’ and ‘400 Boys’. 400 Boys is the opening track on Seven Miles Of Love and is just brilliant. Probably the Hoggboy song that I’ve most listened to. Just pure chaos, but in the best way possible. Upon writing this article, I decided to check out a few live performances from Hoggboy that were available on YouTube. One of the only sets that is uploaded in full is Hoggboy’s performance at La Route De Rock in Saint Malo (France) on August 15^th 2003. The entire set is fantastic, but the performance of 400 Boys is a particular stand out. I’ll leave a link here so you can engross yourself.

Believe, the first single taken from Seven Miles Of Love, I’d argue is most experimental track of Hoggboy’s. I’m not entirely certain on the name of one of the instruments that is used throughout the track, but it does remind me a lot of the ‘guiro’ that can be heard throughout ‘Gimme Shelter’ by The Rolling Stones. I’m probably completely wrong with that comparison, so please excuse me. Needless to say, Believe is a stellar tune.

Hoggboy’s final release was on the 12^th September 2005 and came in the form of a cover version of ‘See No Evil’ by Television, the opening track from Television’s 1977 album Marquee Moon. Whilst See No Evil is definitely a fitting end to Hoggboy’s discography, but you can’t help but feel sad that this was the last piece of music that they would release. Saying that, we still got ourselves two formidable albums from Hoggboy, and for that we should be thankful.

Since 2024, Tom, Hugh and Rich of Hoggboy have been performing as a part of T Is For Thomas Band, which is the pen name given to the musings of former Hoggboy frontman Tom Hogg. This past Monday (23^rd) T Is For Thomas released their debut album titled ‘Sheperd’s Delight’, which is now available to listen to on all streaming platforms. If you have read this far, please may I ask that you go and have a listen to the record. It is a quite beautiful album.

Ultimately, for people the same age as myself, Hoggboy are a hidden treasure. I would have most likely never have heard of Hoggboy if it wasn’t for that work Christmas do in 2022. I think it just goes to show how many amazing bands were around throughout the 2000s during an era of music that has now been to pass. As always, many thanks for reading, it is much appreciated.