It's always comforting to find a band that challenges your expectations for what music can accomplish. It's especially rewarding to find a band like that in a new town you've just moved to. I had that experience when I stumbled across the Richmond, VA band Warren Hixson.
At first glance the scene in RVA appeared somewhat spread out and a bit bleak, compared to what I was used to. Upon further examination, it's just a bigger, more varied scene than what I'm used to. Warren Hixson is a perfect example of the weird brilliance that can come from this area; they're not a nice sounding band, at least not all the time. They can come across as pretty harsh, such as on the thrashing classic garage stomper I wanna take you home (complete with distorted tape delay), and at other times they sound sweet as honey, and as tender as a raw steak (Let me in). With that bleakness comes a realness, and luckily it's all wrapped in unrelentingly catchy hooks. It's like Devo met Suicide in an abandoned barn at the end of the Fall, and decided to have a hoedown with the Cramps ... and then Karl Blau stopped by to sing. It's like Surf Rock for pond dwellers or something (highway surf).
Warren Hixson will try anything it seems (dub, country, indie rock, surf rock, 60s pop, angular no-wave), and yet there's a cohesiveness that runs through their self-released/self-recorded albums. I love this band - it's a fun ride, like a home made haunted house. You should buy their stuff now; they're the real deal.
No comments:
Post a Comment