Laughing Hyenas

Hard Times (Touch & Go)
by Joshua Brown

The forefathers of no-holds-barred hardcore music were Negative Approach. What they represented was total release, and young bands still cover their songs a decade and a half later. In one of the most amazing progressions in underground music history, singer John Brannon was able to extricate all of the focused frustration from the 1-2-3-4 format of NA into the neo-Stooges hardcore blues of Laughing Hyenas. The result was truly intoxicating and could send the listener thrashing and flailing about so spastically that a concerned onlooker would think an exorcism was in order. On top of that, their stage presence was menacing enough to make the most jaded concert-goers more than a bit uncomfortable.

With Hard Times, the Hyenas have distilled their sound, extracting the thrashier parts, keeping the personal angst that makes them who they are, but expressing it in slower music with more melody. Some of the tracks (the ones I prefer) are kinda like old AC/DC without the misogynistic cock-rock attitude. Others are more straight-ahead blues which sort of fell flat for me compared to what I expected from this album. Though I must say, it’s better than the majority of rock music circulating these days. I tip my hat to them for staying true to their roots and consistently shooting from the gut, even though I’d like to see them take more chances and explore their melodic side even further.