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There’s a lyric on the new Hippo Campus album, Flood, that pays homage to one of the most iconic songs of the 21st century. On “Tooth Fairy”, singer Jake Luppen busts out a rhythmic chorus that goes, “Sucking on a candy while you’re wanting me / Calling me all the time / You got a lot of things to say / You got a lot that’s on your mind,” an echo of Peaches’ seminal smash “Fuck the Pain Away”.
“I just watched Lost in Translation,” Luppen tells me, confirming that the nod was intentional. “That song in that movie during the strip club scene, it’s just so fucking good.” Luppen co-wrote that tune with his partner, the singer-songwriter Raffaella, who he admits is “a lot cooler than I am”. This is a somewhat common refrain for the entire band—the idea that, as they enter their thirties, their swashbuckling heydays are behind them.
Bassist Zach Sutton calls Flood—their fourth studio album, which drops on Friday—a “guy-entering-his-thirties album.” He elaborates: “Let’s act our age for a second and think about the kind of songs we want to play as dudes turning 30,” he says. “[Let’s look] at what we’ve done in the past and be like, ‘Dude, that’s not who we are. That’s some teenage bullshit.’ I want to be honest with where we are in life and have that reflect on stage so it feels earnest. I think the only good art comes from a place of true earnestness.” And sometimes, that means earnestly appreciating, and paraphrasing, a Peaches song that has been referred to as slutwave and sleazebag disco. “That song rules, dude. I love that shit so much,” Luppen smiles.
To be clear, Hippo Campus does not make slutwave or sleazebag disco music. They’re an indie-rock four-piece from Saint Paul, Minnesota who’ve spent the past few years playing their sunny, jangly tunes everywhere from Bonnaroo to packed-out shows in Seoul. They’re big enough to sell out Bowery Ballroom but can still bop around the Twin Cities virtually unbothered. Their burgeoning fan base includes NBA champion Jordan Poole, who DM’d the band’s Instagram account to assure them that the music is fire. But when I ask how often, if ever, they get recognized in public, guitarist Nathan Stocker says that the grocery store is mostly chill, then adds: “We’re co-op famous.”
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