- SFBG

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Evading trends and falling into repetition might be career suicide for most, yet somehow Hawnay Troof, the solo outlet of Vice Cooler, has defied these odds and created a world of his own. Over the past four albums he has mixed drive, impulsiveness, and an ever-evolving vision to create some very dividing and interesting sounds. Avoiding all pigeonholes, Daggers At The Moon is the new album and continues the Hawnay Troof trajectory.

Since the release of Islands Of Ayle in 2008, Vice Cooler (yes, that is his legal name) completed a world tour and watched Hawnay Troof’s profile expand by leaps and bounds. The video for “Connection” was voted the #2 Indie Video of 2008 by MTV2’s Subterranean viewers (beating out heavyweights like Bjork and MGMT), and shortly after ranked as #1 on MTVU. While performing at his 1:00PM slot at Australia’s Parklife Festival, Troof buzz built up so big that he was moved to performing right before the headliner, Peaches. In 2009 he also was chosen to open for High Places, Matt and Kim, and Vivian Girls, and stole the stage at Austin’s Fun Fun Fun Fest by creating a near riot in the parks dustbowl. In between Hawnay Troof business, Vice remixed music by Ssion, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Yacht. He also played drums in Chicks On Speed, Boredoms BOADRUM 88, and The Raincoats while also beginning work on a collaborative art book/ band with Mira Aroyo of Ladytron. All in all, it’s been a busy year.

Emotionally rawer than any previous release, Daggers At The Moon captures the mind of someone troubled yet trying to function in the normal world (Vice has been diagnosed with mental illness). From the epic one chord sadness of the self-questioning