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MP3 Hank Vegas - The Things You Are
9 MP3 Songs
ROCK: College Rock, COUNTRY: Alt-Country
Details:
Hank Vegas Delivers a Real Winner
Hank Vegas
“The Things You Are”
★★★★ (out of four)
When local songwriter Chad Evans of Hank Vegas pressed an early copy of “The Things You Are” into my hands in a north Macon parking lot, I had but one thought. I hope they got it right. Since a personnel shift last year, Hank Vegas has unleashed one blistering live set after another, and it would be a real shame if their big debut didn’t capture that.
Thirty-two minutes later (the entire length of the disk) I breathed a sigh of relief. With “The Things You Are,” the band has taken a detour from its alt-country roots into more solid rock territory. And it really works. Producer David Barbe, who has helmed the board for the Drive By Truckers and Son Volt among others, used his wizardry well. Combine that with Evans’ impressionistic lyrics and gift for a hook, and you have a near perfect record.
I’d be hard-pressed to name standout tracks, but here goes. Top marks go to the opener “Another Way To Lie,” a pulsating rocker with keyboards borrowed from The Who, and “Bikini Summer,” one of those wistful summer songs that are meant to be played on humid, buggy evenings.
In fact, much of the album has that hazy, dog days of August feel to it, thanks to pedal steel guitarist John Neff’s searching guitar lines. “Crazy With Fever” feels like a deranged drinking anthem, capturing the feeling you get from too much sun and Pabst Blue Ribbon. All told, it’s one of the best albums I’ve heard this year.
-Maggie Large
The Macon Telegraph
The Eleventh Hour
May 10, 2007
Ridin’ Dirty: Is Hank Vegas the best Macon band since the Allman Brothers?
– by Chris Horne
Macon is a haunted place, one frequented by the ghosts all of familiar Southern tragedies and a few special victories – music prime among them. As much the birthplace of the kazoo as the birthplace of Southern Rock, the city’s reputation is at a point where it’s both trapped by its past and scuttling for a future. Of the latest crop of musicians pushing themselves out of the Allman Brothers’ shadow, Hank Vegas may be making the most unique music yet.
Once upon a time, the band was Hank Vegas and the White Lightning, and had an undeniably alt-country sound. On their first official release, The Things You Are, their music is a lot harder to define, a transformation that makes their re-debut at the Capitol Theatre so fitting. Both the band and the venue have been refitted with some new wheels, their previous incarnations tweaked to serve more than the original model.
The Things You Are opens with a raucous, rolling number, “Another Way to Lie.” The next, “A Long Way Down”, is a dark and moody trek, like a man dragging himself through a barren land. Though the band maintains a cohesive sound throughout, every track feels different, shifting. “Crazy With Fever” comes out like it’d been penned at a honky-tonk on a dare from a peyote-chewing Moe Bandy, playfully skirting above the pain of the lyrics themselves. When “Summer Frown” first plays, the listener wonders how he got in Hawaii. “To Beam” features a heavy, slightly off-center and complex beat that draws comparisons to My Morning Jacket, the other instruments and vocals balanced between train wreck and beauty. The last track, the only cover, “Just a Minute of Your Time” was penned by the late Brax Bragg, one of Bragg Jam’s namesakes.
Their transformation took place in Athens, at the Chase Park Transduction studios, home of producer Dave Barbe (the Drive-By Truckers, Son Volt and Amy Ray of The Indigo Girls). With Barbe’s help, Hank Vegas found itself digging deeper than before, infusing a greater creative range to dress out Chad Evans’ heartache-carved lyrics and his soft, salty vocals. It was a process that took weeks and some whittling down the demos Chad Evans recorded acoustically. “They were really open-minded and that’s what you have to be to make a good record,” Barbe says, “I can do a better job when the artists aren’t too hard set with preconceptions about their art.” Justin Smith (the Liabilities) welcomed the changes, playing keyboards and percussion in addition to the bass he normally wields. “Everyone sort of really expanded their roles in the studio,” Smith says. Both guitarist Rob Evans (no blood relation to Chad) and steel pedal specialist John Neff (Drive-By Truckers) wove their magic throughout, making the sort of adjustments that are subtle but huge.
Their plans to take this CD around the Southeast – with spot gigs in Chicago and New York – begin at the Cox Capitol Theatre with a line-up supplemented by keyboardist Heather Kemp (Oh Dorian) and multi-instrumentalists Will Robinson and Scott Baston, (Moonshine Still). Bringing in help like this is an effort to replicate on stage what they’ve put on the record. “We’d always been more of a studio band than a touring band anyway,” lead vocalist and songwriter Chad Evans says. “But now, we’re ready to get out there with this material.”
Is Hank Vegas the best Macon band since the Allman Brothers? Well, one way or the other they’re definitely a Macon band. “We love Macon,” Rob Evans says, “We’re really proud of Macon, to be from Macon.” Besides bands don’t – or shouldn’t – strive to replace legends. But… if Hank Vegas keeps this up, if they can outlive the turmoil that tears bands apart, and get enough people to pay attention, there’s a damn good chance their name will make the circuit with the bigger bands, those associated with modern, progressive, intelligent music. And with The Things You Are, they have the goods to make that happen.
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