I’m beginning to think The Band of Heathens are a little bit like Benjamin Button. Â Many well-known bands start with critically acclaimed albums, move to spending more time on the road, then abandon studio releases all together to milk their live performances. Â The Heathens started as a live-only phenomena and now, with their third release, Top Hat Crown & the Clapmaster’s Son, they’re clearly hitting their stride in the studio. Â Starting as an only-in-Austin group formed as a sort-of house band at Momo’s, they quickly gained notoriety nationwide with two of the most acclaimed Americana albums in the past few years. Â This latest effort, however, owes as much to New Orleans, though, as it does to the hill country of Texas.
Let’s start with Hurricane, a tune about Gulf Coast storms that makes the observation “nobody taught her it takes a lot of water to wash away New Orleans.” Â There’s Free Again, with it’s commentary on government ineffectiveness, whether with the Gulf spill or toxic children’s dolls. Â And finally, my favorite cut on the disc, Gris Gris Satchel, and the voodoo coloring on the finality of death.
I also sense a little more complexity in the songwriting abilities of the group. Â Enough explores a life where you have “everything you need but room to grow.” Â Should Have Known is an aching study in regret and the willingness to try again, even when you know better. Â And Gravity, where love becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that keeps people together.
Overall, Top Hat Crown seems like a natural progression for The Band of Heathens. Â It’s full of the funky, rootsy music that fans have come to appreciate from the group and so it’s familiar and comforting even if it does explore some more political subjects. Â For new fans of the group, though, I probably recommend the slightly more raucous One Foot In the Ether. Â Either way, don’t pass up the chance to see these guys live.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.