I caught Hands & Knees playing the back of Rosebud Diner in Somerville (MA), splitting a bill with Girlfriends. The stage was cramped between diner booths, pool tables, jukebox- the typical diner detritus- and the band sounded great against the ruby-red pleather backdrop. The Boston-based four-piece does a lot of things right with a heart full of classic 50s/60s rockabilly textures milked up with some smart post-post-post-punk songwriting. Almost want to call this band (alt)country, but the attack is too intense and the themes too crammed with gentle weirdness to attract the commercial Nashville vibe. I mean, is that baton on this album art supposed to be so phallic, or do I just have a filthy mind?
We’ve got the track "Close Your Eyes" below. Could’ve gone in a number of different directions with this choice, because the album "fires on a lot of different pistons", but it’s the twangy rock n roll that keeps the album on course, so I picked a nice twangy rock n roll song, with a Beatles shoutout, plus oodles of 50s radio sweetness to boot. Enjoy!
Stream the single "Close Your Eyes"
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Hit up the Hands & Knees Bandcamp to stream the whole album Wholesome now, and for a limited time name-your-own-price download starting on the 18th of January, ending….?
