The Men The Couldn't Hang
For over twenty years, The Men They Couldn’t Hang have been working on a sound that defies easy classification in today’s genre-defined music-market. Because of their background in the punk scene, their music is sometimes labelled ‘country-punk,’ and certainly several tracks on their latest offering seem to fit the definition.
Devil on the Wind
The title track, Devil on the Wind, which is probably the album’s best single, features a driving countrified sound backed with strained vocals. It also scores major points for managing to work the name Nebuchanezzar into the lyrics. This heavy, unforgiving approach is used again in the less successful Beast of Brechfa, A Real Rain Coming Down, and the fun, album-ending, Lost World.
However, despite this punk reputation, most of the tracks on the album are of a slightly gentler nature that would probably be more commonly defined as ‘Alternative Country’. In fact, several of the more successful tracks include pleasant melodies and smooth vocals. This is perhaps most notable in the tracks Mrs Avery and Aquamarine.
Although it is always dangerous to guess at the influences and themes of musical artists, it is hard to listen to this album without thinking about the current conflict raging in the Middle-East. While the only definite reference can be found in the song Reservoir which opens with the lines ‘Came back from the Gulf in a white hot rage...’, a couple of other songs seem to make veiled references.
Devil on the Wind contains the lines ‘It was down in Mesopotamia...I was slain by a ball of thunder...’ while the track Overseas is all about the medieval Crusades into the Holy Land.
Devil on the Wind by The Men They Couldn’t Hang, Issegulas Records, 2009
- Devil on the Wind
- The Ragged Shoreline
- Beast of Brechfa
- Mrs Avery
- Reservoir
- Overseas
- Heartbreak Park
- Aquamarine
- A Real Rain Coming
- Hard To Find
- Lost World
While the lyrics of the album are a bit hit and miss, the instrumentation is consistently strong throughout. This playing is greatly complimented by a number of guest musicians who join the band on a variety of instruments including violin, piano, banjo, Moroccan pipes, and the Appalachian dulcimer.
Although it is a minor point, it is perhaps worth mentioning the album cover art. This features a painting of the band, standing in an open dusty plain, dressed in long coats, looking like a mixture of old west gunfighters and Chicago gangsters. It’s a small touch, but it certainly adds to the overall feel of the CD.
Overall, the album succeeds more than it fails. While many of the songs are no better than good, a few really stand out as singles: Devil on the Wind, Mrs Avery, and Overseas.
Joseph Allen McCullough - Joseph A. McCullough was born in the town of Greensboro, NC, site of the Battle of Guildford Courthouse. In 1994, he graduated from the ...
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