02 03 Stop Loving Everything: Will You Still Love Me with Broken Bones? 04 05 15 16 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 31 32 33

Will You Still Love Me with Broken Bones?

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Tragedy has a way of making you revisit something, and not without guilt; I have to admit I hadn't listened to House of Freaks' Cakewalk or Tantilla for almost ten years when I heard that 1/2 of House of Freaks, Bryan Harvey, had been murdered along with his wife and toddler daughters in their Richmond Va home over this past New Year's eve.

send condolences here

It's a general sin of kismet that Harvey gets it and not JD Fortune. An ok, I confess HoFs' last effort, 'Invisible Jewel' was weak and after-the-fact sounding, despite the addition of Steve Wynn of the overrated Dream Syndicate as a return favor for Harvey's efforts with Wynn's nice-try but-no-cigar 90s band, Gutterball.

House of Freaks traded in that late 80s Americana stuff, the turf covered by the Long Ryders, the Brandos, or even REM. As a two-man show, they paved some of the way for the duo-chic of the Oughts, ie Black Keys and White Stripes and Brown Turds. Drummer Johnny Hott is a virtuoso, and Harvey easily transcended his sometimes too-vague lyrics by the strength of his melodies.

House of Freaks can also tide me over if the forthcoming Calexico album is as straight-up boring as Feast of Wire was; if they, or anyone, releases another glorified EP with filler instrumentals and call it an album, I'm gonna stop listening to music, shave my head, and wear nothing but Izod. Without a math-rock beard.

House of Freaks - I Got Happy

House of Freaks - A Good Man

and the excellent side of Calexico:
Calexico - Ballad of Cable Hogue (french)

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