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The Hangmen

Loteria (2004)
Acetate

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Contributed by: JiveSide
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on April 30th 2004

Los Angeles veterans The Hangmen are aging musicians who wholeheartedly believe in the swagger and snarl of rock and roll, a belief that accounts for their charm but also accounts for their self-important posturing. Perhaps the curse of Los Angeles is to blame, but this stylized, formulaic, boring music is fronted with image, experience, and attitude instead of know-how, songwriting, and energy. This band is only skin deep, at first look they have potential, but past the look is not a lot of anything.

Weak arrangements and limp songwriting can be dressed up in fast tempos that will give songs more presence, a pop music trick that The Hangmen have simply ignored or failed to attempt, and it is the lack of tempo that is the real killer on The Hangmen’s latest release “Loteria”. Bang bang bang marches each of the thirteen songs exposing the lack of substance in this forty minute collection of middle-of-the-road music. This is not inspired, this is not clever, it’s not much of anything, and that’s unacceptable for a band who has logged in as many years as this band has. What are The Hangmen selling its audience? It can’t be the music alone, for they would be out of a job, and it can’t be any single musician in the band for Bryan Small (vocals, guitar), Todd Haney (drums), Angelique Congleton (bass, vocals), and Rane Raitsikka (guitar) could be any number of anonymous rock musicians whose playing sounds just as uninteresting as the next guy, or gal.

Lyrical content is comprised of meaningless statements such as, “I just wanna feel good”, “I don’t know what it is/But I see it coming my way/I don’t know who she is/But I see her coming my way”, and “Bored out West/There’s nothing left/Had a dream/It made no sense” which make each song not really a song but merely a different chord progression with different words. Mix and match all you like, one will still be listening to the same record. Melodies are not the forte of this band, neither are lyrics, neither is the musicianship nor the arrangements of the music, so once again, what is it that The Hangmen sell to an audience?

Experience is the only characteristic that stands The Hangmen apart from most rock bands for the playing on this record is live, clean, and held up without the pro-tools make-over that is unfortunately so popular with the kids today. But there is nothing beyond simply playing proficiently in this band. There is no daring, no aggression, no passion. Songs come and go not with a whimper but also not with an explosion, they start, they stop, and that’s it. Even though they don’t sound like good rock, this band looks like good rock, and that, dear readers, is part of the problem with these musicians, for the music is what should be important, and if that isn’t anything special, then what kind of product does a band have?

I suggest that The Hangmen go shower, spend less time and money on the clothes and work on the music. If modeling was the deal they should pose for magazines and not make records, for image will change and grow boring, but music, if the time and care are taken, will be ageless, and The Hangmen could benefit from shaving a few years off.

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Anonymous (November 24, 2005)

it's all in the music http://www.los-angeles-casino.com/lanir/casino-directory-2005.htm l

Anonymous (May 24, 2004)

another great disc from the hangmen!

Anonymous (May 17, 2004)

you are high!its too bad you cant hear the real thing even when its right in front of you.great rocknroll is what loteria is!

Anonymous (May 6, 2004)

Score is for the level of retardedness one witnesses while reading these responses.

Anonymous (May 3, 2004)

This score is for Chicago muralist Hector Duarte, who has a piece called Loteria.

Anonymous (May 2, 2004)

"Do The Hangmen sell records and charge money for performances? Yes they do, thus they are SELLING something, and "Loteria" is a rip-off at any price."

That might have something to do with the fact that they are in debt once they pay for the record and need to try and recoup expenses.

Its rock and roll douchebag.

how many bands would release records if they wouldn't get anything back?

this and many other rock bands would. they're breaking even on the cost of the recording, if that.

Maybe you should spend less time writing drawn out reviews (the whole review is "i didn't like it" repeated with a thesaurus in hand, did it need that second, third, or fourth paragraph?)

There's a whole world of bar bands and rock that doesn't rely on the disposable income of the under 18 demographic. They play music for themselves and everyone else. It's a community and on any given night great shows are going on, if you would stop giving a shit about music as science and music as competition.

wyzo

Anonymous (May 2, 2004)

The cover reminds me of The Greatest Story Ever Told, and to a lesser extent, The Ultimate Escape.

FortyMinutesWest (May 1, 2004)

Speaking of Zeke, the new Zeke CD is great.

Anonymous (April 30, 2004)

Never heard of it. Sounds like no fun too

Sara(no h)

JiveSide (April 30, 2004)

Do The Hangmen sell records and charge money for performances? Yes they do, thus they are SELLING something, and "Loteria" is a rip-off at any price. That is all, thanks fr readin' folks. Latr.

-Forrest

looczar (April 30, 2004)

The giveaway line of this review is, "what are the Hangmen trying to sell?"

Nothing! Look, not every band is trying to reinvent the wheel and not everything you listen to has to be different and experimental and all that artsy shite... RocknRoll is RocknRoll. I haven't heard this album, but I've seen the Hangmen and they are killer! I would be disappointed if a straight ahead RnR outfit like them put out some kind of complex, experimental, time-signature-change, crapolla...

Fuzzy (April 30, 2004)

I saw The Hangmen open for Social D in Columbus a couple years ago. It was so awesome. Their presence live was insane. I bought both "We've Got Blood..." and "Metallic IOU". Both very good albums. I would seriously doubt if this reviewer's tastes are of the type that would be so inclined to enjoy any band playing this style of music.

Mr_Pink (April 30, 2004)

Don't buy a word of this review. The Hangmen are a solid rock band. They kind of remind me of The Stooges, and are great live. If you're into the Supersuckers/Zeke/Electric Frankenstein stuff, check these guys out. I'd say The Hangmen aren't doing anything revolutionary, but straight-up rock n roll is getting to be so rare these days, they just might be.

Anonymous (April 30, 2004)

Whoa, yeah. Insult a band for sticking with it.

"Boy, I hate old people!"

Go to AbsolutePunk.net, please.

-BSD