Hymn For Her – Drive Till U Die

I met Hymn For Her’s dog twice. Pokey. Not as in Pokemon but as in Pocahontas Illinois Cloud, so named because they found him in Pocahontas, Illinois. We were friends. We touched noses. He was the band’s security, backup vocalist and sometimes inspiration. He was, in a word, cool. Not that Hymn For Her isn’t cool, just that he gave them that edge, you know? I wish Lucy and Wayne had taken a picture of him in sunglasses. I would have it on my wall.

Pokey traveled with the band. A lot. At first, with Maggi, Pierce and EJ, the precursor to Hymn For Her, then with Hymn For Her. He probably logged hundreds of thousands of miles with them as they traveled all over the country making a name for themselves as a hard rocking, insanely fun and very cool alternative to all of the normal, bland bands everyone thought were so hard rocking, insanely fun and cool but weren’t. He knew. And I knew. Lots of other people knew too and more are finding out every day because Hymn For Here are without a doubt one of the hardest working bands ever. For them, Drive Till U Die is more than an album title. It is a way of life.

I figure the band has driven over a million miles, easy, and probably way more. Lotsa miles between Poughkeepsie NY and Ketchikan Alaska and in between. Lots. And there has been a bit of time since Maggie Pierce and EJ recorded what they dubbed The White Album and the release, today in fact, of Drive Till U Die. Weird thing is, most of that time has been spent driving.

No, this track is not on the new album though I would have lobbied for it. This is from their first H4H project, Year of the Golden Pig, circa 2011. And this is just the tip of the H4H iceberg, trust me. The cigar box guitar you saw somewhere near the beginning of the video was the real beginning of H4H. Someone gave it to them, I believe, and they made it their core. I have seen other bands with such instruments. I have never seen a band use it as well.

They have four albums out. Did you know? I didn’t. I just looked up their discography on Wiki and sonofabitch if they didn’t sneak one by me back in 2014. Hits From Route 66. They will be hearing from me about that. The other three I have— Year of the Golden Pig, Lucy & Wayne & The Amairican Stream (recorded mostly in a classic American Stream trailer), and Lucy & Wayne’s Smokin’ Flames. All outstanding. All pure H4H.

While I do not have a copy of Drive Till U Die yet (I do have the tracks), I will have. On Vinyl. This is, for them, a step beyond— not musically, necessarily, but recording-wise. For one thing, they gave up the producer’s reins on five tracks to Vance Powell in Nashville and three to the legendary Mitch Easter in Kernersville NC. They have given up control to a degree on numerous albums and tracks dating from the days with MPE but this was wholesale. They wanted the input. They may have needed the energy and direction. After all, they have been driving a lot.

The album is a running stream of everything they have made their own over the years and a bit more. You get the cigar box and the warble of Lucy Tight’s vocals and the expertise of Wayne Waxing on multiple instruments (the dude is freaking good and at times, great) and the combined talents of both as songwriters. I would try to describe the music but I have never been able to find the words because they have distinctive touches which demand explanation but nothing to which to compare.  

Of the tracks which stick out, I am most impressed with “Hi Ho Silver,” which contains all of the right elements of the band (and they are indeed a band— I’ve seen them live and they make two sound like five easily)— a flashback to the sixties but with a real punch complete with running jam in the middle. Some people would call this Power Pop. I call it outstanding. “Shine” is retro-fifties and “Seas of Croatia” has that MPE sound I fell in love with when I first heard those guys. And they wrap it up with The Road Song,” a driving (get it?) bluesy rock and roller.

Unfortunately, there are no videos from the album yet but that will happen. When it does, I will post them on No Depression. In the meantime, here is another track from Year of the Golden Pig. By the way, Drive Till U Die is already solidly entrenched in my Top Five of this year. It is that good.

Whoops.  File this under never trust anyone over 30.  Here is the first video from the album.  “Shine.”  Sometimes I have trouble negotiating YouTube.  Hell, sometimes I have trouble getting out of bed in the morning.