Hard core honky tonk from start to finish, James Hand’s second album sounds like a long-lost relic from the mid-’50s, akin to the work of Hank Williams and Lefty Frizzell. Add to this Hand’s profoundly simple lyrics, thematically consistent with the archetypes of classic country — broken hearts, cheating lovers, hard drinking, a bit of humor, and a nod to spirituality — and the result is a pure country album.
Produced by Austinite Dave Biller, Evil Things is a vast sonic improvement over Hand’s well-received debut Shadows Where The Magic Was, which earned accolades on the strength of the material, not the sound. (This difference is clear in three tracks recut from the first album.) Hand is joined on several tracks by Dale Watson on lead guitar, Watson’s Lone Star bandmate Ricky Davis on steel, Asleep At The Wheel’s Jason Roberts on fiddle, and a pair of current and former Derailers (Mark Horn on drums and Ethan Shaw on bass, respectively).
The instrumental accompaniment is a nearly perfect backdrop for Hand’s resonant and emotion-laden voice, which oozes pain. Hand may not always be quite on pitch, but his singing is strong enough to convince you that he has lived what he sings.
