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« on: October 23, 2006, 03:58:36 PM »
yeah, not Hank Williams related. Soriano's Zap Gun review:
Hank IV Third Person Shooter LP (Hook or Crook)*
San Francisco is a great place. I spend about half my time there nowadays. San Francisco has no equal as far as climate and scenery goes. Culturally, New York, Paris and London challenge it but one could argue SF is their equal. However as far as rock & roll goes, Frisco is often lacking. Yeah, yeah, there is Quicksilver Messenger Service and that hippie/psych scene. There is Crime & Frisco punk, as well as the Residents, Chrome and Frisco art punk. And, sure, there is the Mummies/Supercharger scene. But, if I might steal a New York phrase, Frisco comes in spurts. It's BOOM a few great bands trickle out and then nothing but air for quite a few years, then BOOM and they cycle repeats itself. Maybe this is how it works with all cities. Maybe growing up in the shadow of San Francisco makes me expect more out of it. Maybe when the scene gets crappy, it gets really crappy. I dunno. What I do know is that when I go to shows in Frisco, I do not expect to be impressed by any of the local bands. So when last Spring, I crawled out of my hovel to see some Japanese band and instead got bludgeoned by a five piece of stocked from San Francisco's retirement community, I pounded my walker against the floor and wheezed in excitement. Perhaps this is the beginning of the flowering of the dawn of a new great punk scene? Probably not, but that doesn't change the fact that Hank IV killed me that night. When I found out their pedigree (Icky Boyfriends, Bum Kon, Leather Uppers) I wasn't surprised. I certainly wasn't shocked when I found out that these guys were record geeks, as it shows in their music: Smart, cliché free, punk rock with the kind of edge you find in mid 70s CLE punk or Crime-ridden San Francisco. I contacted them and inquired about any studio records and got a vague answer. Now I know why: Chris O. of Hook or Crook beat me to them. Argh! but no problem, as long as they put out a great record. Six months pass and here I have Hank IV's debut, which is as good as the live show hinted. Nine strong songs pack this puppy, three of which (Melonhead, Tonight We Ride, Crime of the Scene) are great and one of which lands in my all time classic punk songs list. That one classic is Hole in My Eye, a tune with the drive of the Viletones' Screaming Fist, but a bit smarter. How good is it? I am writing this from the emergency room because Hole in My Eye kicked my balls so damn hard they have swollen to the size a grapefruits. I might have the doctor replace them with a pair of steel ball bearings. I wanna be ready the next time I see them live. Really. I am not lying to you. I've got one small complaint about this and that is some of the songs need a bit more guitar heft: Doesn't work when a two guitar band sounds like it has one guitar. Still, that bitch is very, very minor compared to the strength of the whole of the totality of the sum of this record. And best of all, the more I listen to it the more I like it. I am on about spin ten and it gets better each time. -SS
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