December 14, 2006

You should meet: Hymns

My friend Tom emailed me a little report from the Lemonheads show he was at last night (not good, he says), and although we differed on the glory (or lack thereof) of Evan Dando, one thing we both agreed on was opening band Hymns. Tom writes:

Let me say if you’re thinking about going to see this tour make sure you get there in time for the opening bands, because last night at least, they were the best part of the night. Hymns started the night off with a set of songs that started off sounding like Wilco and then kind of morphed a bit into a more late 60′s sound — I really liked them. Easily ended up as best band of the night.”

I had a chance to chat with Hymns dudes Brian Harding (vox/guitar) and Jason Roberts (guitar/Wurlitzer) recently in a crowded stairwell at the Bluebird Theatre, for lack of a better place to talk. As people pressed past us, I caught up with them about their current tour and their new album Brother/Sister.

Q: After spending time apart from Hymns as Jason joined the Ben Kweller’s tour and other side projects, how has this tour been so far?

Brian: Yeah, after time apart we were a little rusty at first, definitely, but now we feel like we’ve been jelling back as a band and hit our groove again together. Lots of long drives so far on the tour, and we wrecked our van the other night on black ice! But this is the first time we’ve had this big of a crowd watching us perform, so it’s great. We’ve played some shows in the past to like 40 people, so these crowds are cool — there’s a lot of enthusiasm.

Q: What’s been your coolest moment on this Lemonheads tour so far?

Jason: Oh, I’d say on our last stop — Boise I think? In Boise, Evan [Dando] came out and sat right down in front for our set, just pulled up a chair and no one noticed. Then at the end he jumped up on stage and joined us for that Neil Young cover (Don’t Cry No Tears) that we’ve been doing. It was pretty awesome.

Q: If you had to pick two songs from your catalog to introduce people to the Hymns sound, what would you choose?

Brian: It’s A Shame & Friends of Mine. “It’s A Shame” is fun to play and was easy to record — we laid it down live for the album in about two hours. It also just got on the latest sampler CD for Paste Magazine, so we were excited about that. Yeah, our song is there right after Cat Stevens. (big grin)

Jason: I’d say It’s A Shame too, and Stop Talking.

Q: Any new materials being recorded or written?

Jason: We’d love to do another album — and we’ve already got enough for probably two new albums — but we want to give this album its time to breathe before releasing anything else. People haven’t had time to fully absorb it yet, so we’re not in a hurry.

—————————————————————————
Hymns have three shows left with the Lemonheads:
-Tonight at the Black Cat in DC
-Friday at Irving Plaza in NYC
-Saturday at the Avalon in Boston

You can listen to more Hymns on their MySpace — they’re addicted to it, so leave ‘em a comment and make their day. Their album Brother/Sister is available now from Blackland Records. And their three picks for songs you should hear:

It’s A Shame – Hymns

Friends of Mine – Hymns

Stop Talking – Hymns

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8 Comments

  • I’m going to see the Lemonheads Saturday night in Boston. Thanks for the reviews, and for the heads up on the opener. The shows in Boston are always early, so I usually wind up missing openers. I’ll be sure to make an extra effort to try & see these guys tho.

    mick — December 14, 2006 @ 7:43 pm

  • for some reason, i can’t download any of the tunes from your site heather. it’s weird.

    kari — December 15, 2006 @ 2:53 am

  • kari, I guess the blog is getting more popular than my server (my new fancy server!) can handle. so I gotta upgrade to the next level, and once I do that it should be smooth sailing.

    heather — December 15, 2006 @ 5:27 am

  • Yes, Heather’s taste in music is most scrumpish…

    Anonymous — December 15, 2006 @ 5:55 am

  • I can download some tunes…
    I like them… sounds like a little bit of Soul Asylum mood
    Nice Blog, i´m a new visitor, and i discovered a lot of new music here…thanks a lot.
    Mauro from CHILE.

    Anonymous — December 15, 2006 @ 6:26 am

  • aaaah, the travails of being so popular ;)
    i am going to see the dando tonight. will try to get there in time for hymns.

    c — December 15, 2006 @ 8:28 am

  • hymns were great last night at the black cat…and i definately heard soul asylum referenced as well as the replacements…but with better chops than either…i preferred the hymns to vietnam’s 1970s freak out(which was also very good)

    100 years of trash — December 15, 2006 @ 10:44 am

  • Is there any chance of Hymns coming to the UK? I discovered their Don’t Cry No Tears on YouTube (Zuma is one of NY’s best albums and it’s a song I enjoy playing too)… and have ordered 5 copies of their CD for me and mates over here. I love their sound and have been listening regularly on their website. You’re lucky to be able to see them live.

    secretstrummer — December 17, 2006 @ 12:12 pm

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Bio Pic Name: Heather Browne
Location: Colorado, originally by way of California
Giving context to the torrent since 2005.

"I love the relationship that anyone has with music: because there's something in us that is beyond the reach of words, something that eludes and defies our best attempts to spit it out. It's the best part of us, probably, the richest and strangest part..."
—Nick Hornby, Songbook
"Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel."
—Hunter S. Thompson

Mp3s are for sampling purposes, kinda like when they give you the cheese cube at Costco, knowing that you'll often go home with having bought the whole 7 lb. spiced Brie log. They are left up for a limited time. If you LIKE the music, go and support these artists, buy their schwag, go to their concerts, purchase their CDs/records and tell all your friends. Rock on.

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