The Days of Lore

Hank IV’s weekend bender

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009 | interviewZ, musiX, pdX | 1 Comment

Hot on the heels of Portland’s DRUMMER BUMMER comes the Slabtown Bender, a three-day (Feb. 6-8) punk rock filth-fest that will likely divide the city—you either really want to be a part of it, or you’ll want to run far, far away. The lineup is packed with goodness: PDX rock from The Mean Jeans and Pure Country Gold and some sweet rock ‘n’ roll soul from Memphis in King Louie and the Loose Diamonds.

But Saturday, Feb. 7 will be the big night with a bill consisting of the lovely and grungy Mudhoney, PDX rock legends Pierced Arrows and San Fran’s punk weirdos Hank IV. Yesiree, old dudes that rawk … which is what makes it so stinking good … overachievers in the ways of obscure 7-inches, who get high on the musty scent of old records.

Unlike their Siltbreeze brethren Eat Skull, Hank IV doesn’t go lo-fi on their latest recording Refuge in Genre … lo-life, perhaps, but definitely not lo-fi. It’s muscular like a good AC/DC or Blue Cheer record, but dips equally into the well of lesser-known bands like the Saints and Crime. Lyrics are smart-assed in a smart way. Guitars are massive. Drummer Scott Jones favors his floor tom. And the songs come at you in three-minute bursts like a cricket bat to the face.

Hank IV guitarist Anthony Bedard (who also did time in SF’s Icky Boyfriends) answered a few questions in the midst of recording songs for an upcoming comp, which he says “we’ve been sworn to cone of silence secrecy.” Fair enough. Maybe after a few cocktails this weekend, the lips will get a little looser.

TDoL: How often are you mistaken for a lost Williams brother?
Anthony Bedard: Once in a while. On the day of our Amoeba Records in-store, some fan of the Family Williams called up to find out when we were going on. Once he discovered we weren’t biologically related, he became very irate and yelled at the poor employee over the phone for several minutes. He demanded that we change our name, claimed that we were being disrespectful. While we do respect the Williams clan, we also maintain that our music has as much in common with Hank Williams Sr. as Hank III’s music has to do with Hank Sr.

Which is in worse shape these days—punk rock or the economy?
The economy.

How different was the approach to recording Refuge in Genre than on Third Person Shooter?
For Refuge in Genre, we had to make our singer Bob [McDonald] even more mad than usual to coax his vocal performance. It was like, “well, these horrific, blood curdling screams are definitely what we want, but now will Bob ever talk to us again?” As for the production quality, we wanted the album to be as crushingly hi-fidelity as possible and wound up recording on 24-tracks with Tim Green at Louder. That’s been a controversial move to some people who wish they could pigeonhole the Siltbreeze sound. But Eat Skull and Hank IV are two sides of a wooden nickel in Tom Lax’s pocket.

How did the song “Dirty Poncho” come about?
“Dirty Poncho” was directly inspired by a group of girls running around at a Vetiver/Espers show that I was at in Los Angeles. Utterly gorgeous babes wearing no shoes running around the club in dirty, filthy ponchos. When I told Bob about it, he knew exactly what I was talking about and he filled out the rest with some lyrics about Tussin-swilling Ohio chicks.

This is your first Slabtown Bender. What sort of debauchery do you expect?
We have very high expectations for the Portland debauchery! The very first Hank IV show was at Dunes in Portland (May 2005) before we ever played our hometown of San Francisco. Bob and I are old friends with Honey Owens from her days in the band Blonde Nation. The level of over-indulgence at that show was all-time. Or was that our all-nighter at Millions? But speaking of Portland debauchery, I’m reminded of an Icky Boyfriends show at X-Ray Café where we got caught in a 24-Hour Church of Elvis-sponsored parade for some ex-con, fresh out of prison that day. About 50 of his drunk-ass friends stuffed his bloated half-naked carcass into a shopping cart and rolled him up and down Burnside Avenue. See you in the pit, PDX!

“Dirty Poncho” - Hank IV

Tags: Anthony Bedard, Hank IV, Refuge in Genre, Siltbreeze Records, Slabtown Bender, Third Person Shooter

Eat Skull slips skullduggery into your skull

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 | musiX, pdX | No Comments

One of the Portland bands I kept hearing about before I moved here was Eat Skull. Lo-fi trash rock with hooks? Count me in. The band just reported that they have finished their new record Wild and Inside, which will most likely find its way inside your skull this spring on Siltbreeze Records.

Eat Skull also posted a new song called “Stick to the Formula” on their MySpace, which, along with “Dawn In the Face,” will appear on Wild and Inside. Both songs continue in the tradition of so-lo-fi-it-hurts-so-good songs like “Waiting For the Hesitation” and “Shredders On Fry” off the band’s 2008 debut LP Sick To Death. The production itself might scare listeners off before they really get a feel for the music. If you’re patient and open-minded, however, you will be rewarded handsomely … not really sure what the reward is … maybe coolness? Then what do I get for that gaudy headline?

Eat Skull will test a few of the new ones out this Saturday, Jan. 10 at the Doug Fir with Quasi and The Golden Bears. It’ll be interesting to hear what the pristine acoustics of the Doug Fir do to Eat Skull’s ramshackle skuzz.

“Waiting For the Hesitation” - Eat Skull (Sick To Death)

Tags: Eat Skull, Quasi, Sick to Death, Siltbreeze Records, The Golden Bears, Wild on the Inside