Now wrapping up their first decade of intensive collaboration, Austin quartet Hikes has ventured into the realm of near undefinable. While “felt rock” was a placeholder label in the early years, dynamic elements of math rock, indie, folk, punk, pop, metal, shoegaze, and experimental are all on the table for these performance perfectionists, who are never fully comfortable with any tempo, rhythm, key, or time signature. In short, Hikes fittingly makes music that moves, and when you’re in a crowd of 100+ longtime fans, it really moves.

Hikes hasn’t been without their own personal hardships though, and a shared sense of compassion earned over past couple years of internal turmoil has fueled their latest LP, Mahal Kita. Featuring the return of Mother Falcon co-founder Claire Puckett to the original lineup and taking its name from the Tagalog translation of “I love you”, the nine tracks on Mahal Kita will make you fall for Hikes all over again. They’ll be playing tonight at the Barracuda alongside Mary Bryce and Black Belt Eagle Scout, but be sure to listen through Mahal Kita, starting off with the Puckett-penned album opener, “Been Thinkin'”!

Hikes celebrate the release of their new album with a party and show at Barracuda on January 17th with Christelle Bofale and The Kraken Quartet!

–Jack Anderson