Originally from a town outside Boston, Massachusetts, Matt Langone began playing guitar as a
youth after seeing the Beatles on
the Ed Sullivan Show. He played the
New England circuit with the Peytons
and the Trademarks until he relocated
to the New York area. Since then, he has played lead guitar in several local
rock bands, including the Gotham Rockets,
the Trash Mavericks, the Cynz and the Waldos. For the past few years, his main project has been the Hipp Pipps with bassist Kevin Shaw (formerly of the BMTs, presently in the Wraycyclers) and drummer Frankie Pipps (presently in the Pipptones). The Hipp Pipps released a self-titled album in 2015.
Zoe Stark presents a monthly concert series at the Map Room that frequently features the
Hipp Pipps. On those occasions, such as tonight, the power trio fire
straight-forward rock and roll from all engines. The Hipp Pipps' performance tonight
was a roots rock set with no hyphens or hybrids. The set included a Chuck Berry cover and an Eddie Cochrane cover and about 10
original songs that sounded like they could have been written by those same
pioneers. The energy was higher and the rhythms were speedier than the songs
would have been a half century ago, but the songs were just as pure as the
sounding fathers of rock and roll would have liked them. Langone's gritty
vocals contrasted Shaw's pillow-talk vocals, but the driving spirit united the
two vocal sides of the Hipp Pipps. If New York's future scene ever experiences
a rock and roll revival, it will begin with the Hipp Pipps.
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