| Neon Hunk | |
| Landscape: | yes |
| Origin: | Milwaukee, United States |
| Past Members: |
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| Genre: | |
| Years Active: | 2000–2004 |
| Label: | Load Records |
Neon Hunk was a husband and wife noise music duo from Milwaukee. The duo went under pseudonyms; Mothmaster (responsible for vocals and synthesizers) and Mossmaster (responsible for drums, vocals and additional synthesizer work). The duo formed in the summer of 2000 under the name "Abracadaver",[1] but changed their name to Neon Hunk in 2001. Neon Hunk disbanded in 2004, with both members of the duo continuing to record music independently.
The music of Neon Hunk featured sparse, drum and synthesizer arrangements, generally non-tonal, and often in non-standard and frequently changing time signatures. Vocals within their songs were typically processed with a vocoder. Their sound combined aspects of progressive and experimental rock, punk, avant-garde electronic/noise music, as well as free-improvisation at times. The music is held together with a quirky, cartoonish pop sensibility. Typical Neon Hunk songs rarely exceeded two minutes, though live shows sometimes featured longer improvised jam-sessions (shown on their releases Neyan Honkies and the tour only release, SECRETS OF THE HUNK).
Neon Hunk cited diverse influences including Black Sabbath, Melvins, Ruins, Rush, Blue Cheer, early Devo, and Kraftwerk. They also cited musical contemporaries such as many of their Load Records peers and many other artists within the underground noise and punk community. The duo was known for their lively high energy shows, disjointed dance moves, and scrapped-together, bright, home-modified masks and costumes.
Neon Hunk toured the US and Canada several times in summers and winters from 2001 to 2003 including partial or whole tours with Hair Police, Mammal, Wolf Eyes, The Locust, Chinese Stars, Kites, and Black Coitus Family. The duo's final performance was in 2004 at the De Stijl festival in Minneapolis, MN alongside The Dream Aktion Unit, Devendra Banhart, Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice and Dead Machines.
Since the dissolution of Neon Hunk, Mossmaster and Mothmaster have continued recording music under various names. Mossmaster has self-released several solo CDr's.