new Howling Hex / Neil Hagerty brings the funk!

Ok, I guess it’s kind of a jam...

Still, it’s in sort of a “funny“ style, esp. in light of this section from the RS interview:

”Rock and roll is what’s missing in bands these days that take a generic approach to playing that’s almost machine-like,” he adds. “We don’t need that anymore because machines can actually do it. I don’t see what the difference is between a precise human drummer playing to a click track and EDM. There’s some weak dad-rock stuff being distributed now by people my age, so I’m just trying to up the ante. I get on stage and say all the words I believe in my daily life. Not every dad can do that.”

reading between the lines: Malkmus, Callahan & recently Oldham are now fathers.

Well, so is Neil... and I doubt he’s dissing those guys!

I like the new track, dunno if it "ups the ante" (lol) but it rocks well enough

I know, right? lol

The Best Of... still sounds so great... his playing, the arrangements, everything just smokes. "Green Limousine" is one of my favorite traxx ever -- it's brain-melting, I can't play it loud enough!!

wooooooooo

Surprising development, to me at least. I figured Howling Hex releases would be Bandcamp or Patreon deals after the break with Drag City.
Speaking of which: https://www.patreon.com/howlinghex
I wonder that maybe sending Neil Hagerty $360/year might actually be worth it.

Also, I've assumed that Trux is broken up again, but that Rolling Stone thing is the first thing that I've seen that suggests so.

Thx for the Patreon link; good to see he’s ramping up & doin’ stuff.

He's uploaded a new track called "TILT2" to the Patreon acct. The mix is pretty weird -- his vox are way upfront, the music buried in the background, and he pounds on the mic for emphasis a few times(?) -- but, y'know, it's cool!

The 2nd Patreon upload is a weird/random video filmed on a phone... (he's already on that tip, lol)

Did anyone else who pre-ordered the new Howling Hex album just receive a refund from Fat Possum with no explanation? I'm guessing given that the pressing plants aren't operating that this release and many others have been postponed indefinitely.

I didn't even know there was an album available for pre-order!

(Nice tune - https://www.patreon.com/posts/sailing-on-by-35459094)

Guess MP3s will be available on 4/17: https://store.fatpossum.com/products/knuckleball-express

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/the-howling-hex-knuckleball-express/

“'Lies,' the most immediate yet least satisfying track on Knuckleball Express, is a slice of heads-down Southern boogie"

I dare anyone to find anything remotely "southern" or "boogie" about that track

Dear Pitchfork: please stop writing about rock music

Jeez - no kidding

I think I will wait to listen to this until I can listen to it “for real.”

Is there going to be a "for real"? Even on Fat Possum's website, the only option is mp3 download - is this even getting a physical release?

Yeah, I dunno, it’s not looking good :/

are pressing plants even open?

It'll be a shame if this doesn't get an actual physical release because it's really good (and despite what the Pitchfork review says, none of it sounds like fucking Belle & Sebastian, jesus christ). Some of it actually reminds me of some of Westerberg's low-stakes solo stuff, which I wasn't expecting

Hagerty’s records are difficult to review; I’m not sure I’ve ever read a review that made me think, “Yeah, this gets it.” A lot of them tend to fall back on the usual RTX/drug/etc. references (though, to be fair, so do the press releases).

Also, I’m glad Howling Hex albums are still getting reviewed at all. The Trux reunion may have been short-lived, but seems like it probably did “boost interest” a lil’ bit?

the new one makes me think of cate le bon a bit, in terms of song structure/melodies. obviously the influence probably runs the other way.

gave it a couple listens yesterday and thought it was really strong, I think I like it a lot

Finagled some headphones, listening now... sounds great!

I think these songs are the most “mainstream” he’s ever done, and it’s really working for me

"If you wanna die / believe in lies" : anthem for the Lysol Injecting Era

"Heavy Curtains" is the closest thing to a Trux song that he's ever recorded on his own.

Some... interesting remarks from Neil in this Patreon post: https://www.patreon.com/posts/story-of-broken-36841876

Any summary? It appears only patrons can view it.

Oh, sorry, I thought the pages were public:

"Story of A Broken Heart" by The Howling Hex

This is from a bootleg rough mix that someone gave back to me from the rehearsals for my last record. There is no rights owner, I am not the rights owner of this. It's just one of those things everyone tapes on their quality recording devices at rehearsal.

This is the end riff for 'Share a Name'-- a song on the last chance, last call, last album I make for crackers ever. They had a portland boy mix the studio recordings to clean it up and remove the forbidden from it for their "audience". I want showcase the two guitar thing I was trying to work up that wasn't allowed to happen as evidence. This band was shot in the heart and you are to blame.

NMH: guitars, synths

Nicole Lawrence: guitar (the clean leads throughout)

AS on the official release, ethan and ken are the rhythm section, bass/drums. They were locals I could find but they are moving on to other things since they both do serious music not rock and roll. There are no good white rock and roll musicians in Denver, unless someone from elsewhere who just lives here and doesn't work in town. Ken & the Big E helped out but they do not want any part of what I do for a living. They have lives like me.

Personal Note: If you dispute my claims, you are in luck because duel-ing between white people is BACK so knives at the appointed hour in CHESS-MAN PARK. That's the new name of that park full of graves, not the stupid one you use---> because american cheese is disgusting.

ps: the howling hex is wrecked and is retired/done as a name, I am sad I sacrificed such a good name that some dope picked from a list of 10 I made up for a she·nan·i·gans cracker OP but that's how much I cared about them, got to give people a chance to not believe in lies just 1 time, right. AT least in baseball, anyway.

(it's a nice jam; almost Pavement-y, I guess. I don't know what to make of the comments, tho he's been getting elliptically soapbox-y on recent posts.)

<em>last album I make for crackers ever</em>

^^ At first, I read "crackers" as "peanuts", but now I think he means it in the racial/ethnic connotation.
I think I posted in the Royal Trux thread that I hoped Neil wasn't biting the hand or whatever regarding 'who the fuck but Drag City would put out Howling Hex records". The answer apparently is 'not anybody, actually'.
I pay for the Patreon, and kinda felt like it was a ripoff, but Neil seems to put stuff up in chunks. Last week he posted a few musical pieces, a one act play, a self-help coloring book, a harsh assessment of The Wire, and some state of the Hex updates. Worth it, imo.

and *at first* kinda felt like..
**Actually** worth it.

FYI for those who aren't Mike: Neil's little essay on The Wire -- the acclaimed TV show, not the magazine -- also featured very pointed digs at white people.

(He also recently suggested that a motivated fan might want to update his Wikipedia page.)

The one-act play basically reads like an extension of the little skits in the You Can’t Beat Tomorrow DVD (though it’s very up-to-the-minute; involves “Covid-90”).

Soon as I get some income again, I'll subscribe. NMH is prob the one living *celebrity* I'd most want to meet

He just uploaded a track labeled - "Return of The Rusted Sled" by The Vicksburg Occupation

New band name(?)

Looks like he's used the name for something: https://vicksburgoccupation.yolasite.com/

(that site's metadata includes a ref. to "www.denverbrunchgamesco.com")

It's really something -- this increasingly baroque insularity ("the howling hex is wrecked and is retired/done as a name"), blended with fresh stabs at outreach (the Patreon; "I noticed the wiki looked thin (no surprise) so if anyone wants to fuck around with it, say whatever you want. Just spell my name right...").

https://i.ibb.co/pnfWQbT/Screenshot-20200514-060417-Patreon.jpg

Remember when he sprays the phone in that longform RTX video? Dude was ahead of his time.

His twitter is chockablock with the most random, inscrutable musings. Like reading replies to questions that you never got to hear from someone else's conversation. I sometimes worry about Ol' Hag.

Nahh NMH is as usual using the message to skewer the medium

neutral milk hotel rules at twitter, are you kidding me? if you can make a twit like "beisbol is the sport not crakerball [cannon v hammer, 1817]" and have it not have any hearts, comments, or recycles at all, yet still maintain 2K+ followers, then you're playing games and you're winning

Aesthetically, I feel like The Best Of was already sort of the “final” Howling Hex album, bookending the project that began with All Night Fox.

Denver felt like something different — it didn’t really feature the New Border Sound any longer (of course, Neil hasn’t lived near the border for years now anyway). The new album is, similarly, a return to more straightforward rock ‘n roll (though you could point out that XI also fit that description, and you’d be right).

Neil has also slowed down, output-wise, which adds to the sense that the old throughline has fallen away. His concerns seem more local and specific now (though no less idiosyncratic) — he’s getting older, we all are.

Lol @ "recycles"