Hornss Premiere “Manzanita” Video

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It’s short at about two and a half minutes, but with their new video, San Francisco-based trio Hornss seem to stake a direct claim on their desert heritage. The clip for the low-end-centric groover cut “Manzanita” was put together by guitarist/vocalist Mike Moracha, and it finds its summary moment at the very end of the track, when we see bassist/vocalist Nick Nava standing in front of an impossibly open landscape, holding his Rickenbacker aloft, possibly in an offering, possibly as his means of conquer. Hard to know which, but in the brief span of the video, which features a swath of manipulated footage of the three-piece of Moracha, Nava and drummer Bil Bowman hanging out in what one assumes is the Palm Springs area, Hornss engage a desert vibe in a manner fitting for the song itself, which takes its name from the manzanita plant that grows there.

Hornss released their second album, Telepath (review here), last year via STB Records and Ripple Music. The answer back to 2014’s No Blood No Sympathy (review here), it furthered the sometimes-raw-and-punkish/sometimes-rolling-and-nodding spirit of the first outing while keeping to an overarching thrust that was without pretense and full in its sound, despite coming across as organic to a live experience. Shit was heavy, in other words. What it wasn’t, necessarily, was desert rock in the way one commonly thinks of languid fuzz or post-Kyuss riffery. Nonetheless, as Moracha and Nava both trace their roots back to the desert band Solarfeast — they’re also featured in the Lo Sound Desert documentary (review here); Bowman‘s path to Hornss seems to have been more roundabout — they don’t by any means owe some explanation for why they’re there (could’ve been seeing family for all I know) or why they’d still consider that area an important element in what they do, despite currently being based in the Bay Area.

That duality — the push and pull of home — I think is something to which I think anyone who’s moved from one area to another can probably relate. We could have a whole conversation about what it means to be “from a place,” but probably better to just let Hornss explain their side of things with the video itself. Their argument is admirably concise where, rest assured, my own would not be.

This coming Saturday, Jan. 21, Hornss play Bender’s Bar and Grill in San Francisco with Fatso Jetson and BigPig. More info on that show is available at the Thee Facebooks event page listed under the video itself, which you’ll find below.

Please enjoy:

Hornss, “Manzanita” official video

HORNSS have gained a worldwide reputation among the stoner rock and doom scene, taking the stage with fellow heavy hitters such as Ufomammut, YOB, Windhand, Bang, Black Cobra, Fatso Jetson, Lord Dying, Naam and Elder. They also co-headlined a successful 2014 European tour with Vancouver’s Black Wizard.

Telepath is the follow-up to the band’s acclaimed debut album, No Blood, No Sympathy, released in 2013 on Riding Easy Records. Recorded by Tim Green (Saviours, Melvins, KARP, Comets on Fire, Hot Lunch), the guys recorded this one directly to analog tape at Green’s Louder Studios in Grass Valley, CA.

Hornss with Fatso Jetson & BigPig event page

Hornss on Thee Facebooks

Hornss on Bandcamp

Hornss at STB Records

Hornss at Ripple Music

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