Hanks Company Band - Herb Deluxe CD new

Ich hatte schon immer einen Faible für krude Aussenseiter. Damals als Glitterhouse Boss zum Beispiel das Boxharp Album, ein Projekt von MC Taylor (heute Hiss Golden Messenger) oder den SloMo Swamp Country von Ramsay Midwood, der pastorale Stillstand von Savoy Grand usw.

Und der Hank und seine Company Band ist offenbar auch so einer. Scheinbar lebt er irgendwo im Norden von Wales mit seinen Mitstreitern -zumindest sieht es von hier so aus- in einer Art alternativem Lebensstil abseits vom täglichen Heckmeck. Klickt man auf die Bandwebseite, so landet man auf Mother Moon's (Vocals, Percussion, Accordion, Magic) online Shop mit „handmade soap and other lovely wondrous thingsmajigs“. Tom The Cosmic Cowboy spielt Bass, analogen Synthesizer und Percussion. Big Jim, ein weiteres Bandmitglied, ist zuständig für mehr Schlagwerk und „smokes“. Im Cover sieht man ihn bei eindeutigen Handbewegungen. Der kosmische Cowboy ist auch Besitzer des Studios, was eigentlich ein alter Zirkus Wohnwagen ist, in dem er scheinbar auch lebt (Fotobeweis im Cover). Mir dünkt, dass im Nirgendwo von Wales ein guter Platz für so etwas ist.

Den Song Kissing The Feet Of The High Princess habe ich erstmals in der Whiskey Preachin radio show gehört und war sofort fasziniert von diesem eigenartig swampigen Groove. Das klang für mich wie aus der Zeit gefallen, wie ein Track, der auch zirka 1971 auf einem obskuren Album hätte veröffentlicht werden können, das heute teuer gehandelt wird.
 

In Hank's eigenen Worten:
„Out there in the low lying wetlands of north Wales, amongst the reeds and scattered driftwood bones, the twisted rusted limbs of an old showman’s wagon are creaking and humming under the mystical moonlight again to the laid back boogie groove and swampy blues vibes of Hanks Company Band jammin’ out their brand new album ‘herb deluxe’.

Electrified boogie? Cosmic country? Swamp blues? Voodoo? Outlaw? Funky? … it’s all of that and more...

I just wrote some songs and got all fuzzed up with my new electrified guitar and some of the finest herb deluxe…. A flat broke, toked up, no good boogie man … as the song goes. So far, I’m hearing stuff like… ‘herb deluxe’ ..it’s kinda JJ Cale meets Junior Kimbrough and Larry John Wilson over at RL Burnsides place … and I’m more than ok with all of that…. Cosmic country blues for everyone!

Review from Americana UK:

"On the strength of its rhythmic swampy blues and rasping vocals laden with soul this must be a record made in Louisiana sometime in the early 1970s. If the name Hanks Company Band does not immediately spring to mind surely they are neighbours of JJ Cale, Junior Kimborough or Tony Joe White? Ten tracks later that impression is unshakeable so it comes as a bit of surprise to learn that this album was made in the wetlands of North Wales where Hank resides.

Hanks Company Band’s sultry groove swirls like plumes of thick smoke. And therein lies a clue to the album’s genesis. To quote the man himself, “I just wrote some songs and got all fuzzed up with my new electrified guitar and some of the finest herb deluxe”. Really that is all you need to know. The rest is cosmic boogie played at varying intensities. But before taking the first puff, a bit of context might help.

Hank is Paul Davies who under the same Hanks Company Band released a couple of fine americana/country-leaning albums over the past two years, ‘Hello High’ and ‘Big On Easy’. The band are Mother Moon who, again referring to the PR notes, is credited with vocals, percussion, accordion and magic, Tom The Cosmic Cowboy plays bass, analogue synthesizer and percussion. Finally there is Big Jim, also a percussionist but with the weighty responsibility for “smokes”.

The opening track ‘Kissing The Feet Of The High Princess’ plunges the listener deep into the swamp. Straight away its mesmeric groove evokes Tony Joe White as as repetitive growl of, “Mama you got me gone” suggests Hank’s has reached his preferred state. ‘Rain Shine’ continues in much the same vein although becoming drawn into Hank’s mystical vibe the senses become more attuned to the musical activity going on in the background. The Cosmic Cowboy’s synth buzzing in and out of the consciousness is a feature of the whole album but is particularly effective here.

These two opening tracks feel like the core of the band from which they either turn up the fuzzbox into a complete maelstrom of sound or strip back to a more tranquil sound. ‘Good To Go’ is relentless boogie that is less swamp and more metal. The central riff almost overpowers everything else apart from a wailing harmonica. ‘Done Tryin’’ and closing track ‘All Good For Ass’ are further examples of Hank and Co blowing the doors off their hinges. If these were Hank’s only offering this reviewer may have struggled to complete the course.

Where Hanks Company Band truly excel is in their more relaxed mode. ‘Manifesting Prayer’ turns very JJ Cale as Hank peels away the layers of sound and shows he can sing as well as growl. Harmonising with Mother Moon to a gentle acoustic guitar strum ‘Take Your Time’ celebrates the pure joy of companionship, “there ain’t no mountain with you we can’t climb”. Similarly ‘Your Magic Work Me’ and ‘No Good Boogie Man’ float gently along, their beat is no less secure, just that the acoustic trance does it for this reviewer more than their louder counterparts.

But whether gentle acoustic or fuzzbox bludgeoning there can be no refuting the authenticity of Hanks Company Band, worthy successors to those aforementioned giants of blues and swamp."