The Hangmen
“We’ve Got Blood on the Toes of Our Boots”
(Acetate Records)
“Blood” passes itself off as a live record, but don’t get this confused with some Pearl Jam bootleg live from Hamburg, or something like that. This was recorded live at Swinghouse Studios in LA, which seems like a nice way of saying, “We couldn’t afford the studio time, so we decided to record it all at once.” If that is the case, it’s too bad The Hangmen don’t have a little more cash because their stripped down, no-nonsense rock ‘n roll is something tragically missing from today’s music scene. Bryan Small’s vocals are quite similar to that of ex-New York Doll Johnny Thunders’ and his sneering delivery smacks of Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard, two of my all-time favorites. Expertly mixing the track order, The Hangmen juxtapose the hard rocking ‘Tell Me’ with bluesy, Stones influenced tunes like ‘I Luv U’ (whack title but good song), ensuring a well-rounded, complete album. As if that wasn’t enough, the Supersuckers Eddie Spaghetti adds his two cents on ‘Coal Mine’, a rip-roaring good time. So go out and support The Hangmen with two cents of your own. Maybe next time they’ll be able to afford some actual time in the studio.
