#howling hex

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

Neil Hagerty Mental Health & Legal Defense Fund

You may have seen that Neil Michael Hagerty (Royal Trux / Howling Hex / Pussy Galore etc) has been having a very rough time lately. His wife reports that he "was arrested after an unfortunate encounter with Denver Police on April 14th, following a welfare check. It is important to note that Neil has been struggling with mental health issues for a long time and this concerning incident highlights the urgent need for Neil to receive proper mental health treatment."

There was a GoFundMe to help out, but for various reasons, that has been shut down. Now, it's over on GiveSendGo — I think that if you haven't received a refund from GoFundMe, your donation has gone through. But please give what you can! (Edit: I've been informed that GiveSendGo is sort of an iffy platform politically speaking, but I'm making an exception this time around? Do what you think is right!)

Some other ways to help out: grab this amazing NMH live jam with Ryley Walker and Ryan Jewell; get yourself a copy of the awesome Hagerty-Toth Band LP via Three Lobed; or just buy some stuff via the Howling Hex Bandcamp page. Let me know if you know of other ways to get some cash to Neil and his family.

Neil has been out here in Colorado for over a decade and I've been fortunate enough to see him in action a bunch of times; in particular, some of the Howling Hex shows circa 2013-15 were phenomenal and indescribable in the best way possible. The guy is some kind of genius and he deserves our support right now ...

[dustedmagazine]

Howling Hex — Knuckleball Express (Fat Possum)

Knuckleball Express by The Howling Hex

Fresh off a disastrous Royal Trux reunion (which Ethan Covey described in vivid detail here, to much band/label/publicist consternation), Neil Hagerty convenes an unlikely crew of mostly Denver-area musicians to work his loose, incendiary grooves. It’s the only response, really, and it’s a good one. Knuckleball Express is the best Howling Hex album since Nightclub Version of the Eternal.

In opener “Lies,” Hagerty musters a big, muscular, riff-based foundation, squiggling his signature anarchic leads over a drag race roar of bass and rhythm guitar. “If you want to die, believe in lies,” he yowls, in that singularly Hagerty-ish combination of heat and cool. Influences, as usual, range from 1970s Stones to electric Chicago blues to a noise-fuzzed, slouching, southern rock vibe. Intervals of goofiness lighten up the murk. “Mr. Chicken” (with guest vocals from Mary Timony/King Tuff backer Nicole Lawrence) swaggers, blares, bangs and broods, but also muses idly about its folkloric main character. “Rootbeer Mother” strings spooky spoken word across psychedelic reverberations, but again, the title is objectively funny.

Hagerty gets a great deal out of mostly unknown players, who hadn’t worked together much before the eight-day recording session. His drummer (Kenneth Boykins) and keyboard player (Kristine Shafer) both give lessons to school kids when not making Howling Hex records. Ethan Howland, the bass player, shows up in google searches mostly through a series of home-made Youtube clips. And yet, the music is burly and cohesive. This is the most tuneful, least meandering batch of tunes in the recent Howling Hex catalog; there’s a buzzing, surging purpose in the way these songs build and progress. The sound is dirty. It wouldn’t be a Howling Hex album if it weren’t. But there’s enough sense and structure under the hood to make these songs make sense.  

No one really knows what happened with the last Royal Trux album or whose fault it was or how much Hagerty contributed. But Knuckleball Express is the best possible way to respond, by not responding, just making another snaggle-toothed rocker of an album with a ragged crew of newcomers following the pied piper call of Neil Hagerty.

Jennifer Kelly

[marcopapiro]

Neil Michael Hagerty & Howling Hex / Roy & the Devil’s Motorcycle Design: Marco Papiro Offset print, 420 × 594 mm

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

Ryley Walker / Neil Hagerty / Ryan Jewell - Bluebird Theater, Denver, Colorado, November 29, 2019

A couple months back, I drove through a harrowing snowstorm to check out the first (hopefully not last!) performance of the Walker / Hagerty / Jewell Trio. It was worth risking life and limb — and the deeply fried jam sounds even better in this fresh board mix, where you can really dig what the various players are up to. Extremely fun stuff, and great to see Neil! He hasn’t been quite as active in the Denver scene in the past few years ... If you need a band, Neil, I’m available. 

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

Royal Trux - Hero Zero

Head over to ye olde YouTube for a treasure trove of Royal Trux artifacts. Live stuff, promo films, et cetera! Thanks to the uploaders — it’s all very entertaining. Royal Trux have a new record coming out! Or do they?! There’s been a fair amount of mystery from the band’s camp in recent months, including canceled tour dates and enigmatic reports from Neil Michael Hagerty’s twitter account. Has NMH been pushed out? Seems inconceivable. But in Royal Trux land, confusion is king. Always keep ‘em guessing, I guess. 

[riotactmedia]

Pitchfork reviews the new album from Neil Hagerty’s Howling Hex, ‘Knuckleball Express’!

“Full of charm, panache, and eccentric raw power, Knuckleball Express makes good on his promise to make something real.“ Read the full review HERE

[riotactmedia]

Pitchfork announces new Neil Hagerty / Howling Hex album, shares single “Lies”

“‘Lies’ is sort of my motto, man,” Neil Hagerty told Rolling Stone. “I mean it’s just effective. A is a lie is a lie. You know, even if you have 100 million people believe it, the energy that you need to sustain that, you know, isn’t worth it. So, I try not to internalize lies. So, this is kind of a fun romp. If you want to die, believe in lies.” Check it out HERE /  Knuckleball Express arrives April 17 (via Fat Possum)

[stevestelling]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pREqVSlSMok) Last year’s finest music video, I think.