Howling Hex return
The Howling Hex
Nightclub Version Of Eternal
(Drag City)
Neil Michael Hagerty, God bless him, is making “border music.” While his New Mexico home seems to offer a clue, it’s a misleading one.
Lyn Madison’s stereophonic percussion is a minor distraction in what really sounds like a score to a freaked-out version of A Touch Of Evil, only the border in question is a fictional one between America’s East Coast and Kigali, Nigeria. No matter where Mike Seanz’s destructo-blues licks wander — and wander they do — Hagerty uses the strings of his baritone guitar to pulse and lead the beat like some Fela Kuti acolyte in an eternal trance. “Lips Begin To Move” weaves an alien lead through a West African rhythm until classic rock surges underneath the verses, though the rest of the album isn’t nearly as strong. Nightclub Version Of Eternal‘s primary fault is this novelty wears off quickly, not only because each song (save “Out, Out, Out”) pushes past seven minutes, but they all ride the same wave. This should be no surprise for Hagerty fans, who’ve witnessed him beat deadhorses in both Royal Trux and Pussy Galore. But this is at least a new turn for Howling Hex, one he shouldn’t have dispatched so dismissively.
5
— Steve Forstneger
