Hangnail

Clouds in the Head (TMC)
by Craig Regala

So what do you expect from a disc whose last track is titled, “Riffmeister Jesus”? Yeah, these guys ride a rocking horse, rock between stompin’ “punk” IDed bands like Electric Frankenstein and Zeke, and the kickass “stoner” tagged units like Nebula and The Mushroom River Band. Me, I think they rock out acceptably, like a couple hotsy-totsy North Eastern bands – Lamont and Roadsaw – who both have recorded evidence fit for any jukebox containing Motörhead, Mudhoney, Van Halen, the Sex Pistols, Speedealer, Ozzy (with Randy Rhoads), Solace, Skid Row, Novadriver, Fu Manchu, the Laughing Hyenas… you get the picture. No tunes lodge in the memory banks, but Hangnail are certainly a dirt-headed rock combo, and fuck, if every town can have a couple dozen “emo” (elmo?) bands, why not a couple of these to even-up the teeter-totter? I think of this stuff as more the spawn of the Ramones, streetrockin’ buzzsaw hard rock non-denominational black leather boogie shit, than the fucking Riverdales. R.I.P. Joey – he meant more to guys like me than Jerry Garcia and Kurt Cobain ever could.
(PO Box 629 Port Washington, NY 11050)