Album Review of "Dragging Horse Bones" by Rusty Hacksaw Project.

A friend of mine just put this album out recently, and i told him i would give it a track by track review. here is that massive document. for those of you interested in downloading this album go to http://charliejackjosephkruger.wordpress.com/ and follow the directions. after that you can dispute with me about how you like it. anyway... i think i have to go... it sounds like the zombie invasion just started...


Track One, “Dragging Horse Bones”:
The album starts quite suddenly leaving the listener in a moment of disorientation where they are forced to try and reconcile themselves with the off timing of the measures, and rather twilight zone-esque high end. The track then morphs into what seems to be an explosion just shortly after the listener finally gains some sort of orientation. Out of this explosion of low fuzz comes a very tedious bass line that sounds as though it was done on multiple upright basses that are slightly out of tune with each other, and with drum beats in the background that sound close to sticks being broken. Overall the track is very tedious sounding, and it seems to put me on edge. Often it will wind down to a point of relief, or expand into some distorted explosion, only to pick back up with the same meticulous energy as before. Oddly enough, seems to fit the idea of being at the bottom of a hill and seeing another one, and that final track’s nod of the head to the title of the first track makes this album have a cyclical aspect. The track ends with a cacophony of distortion that blends into a more distinct and harmonious sound in the second track.

Track Two, “Rats in the Roots”:
The second track takes from the distorted end of the first track, but then turns into a rather somber techno beat; the listener gets sucked into believing for a second that there may actually be some sort of musical relief in this album, before a distorted guitar that plays a different timing than the techno beat snaps them out of their comfort zone once again. Charlie’s voice comes in very syncopated and distorted itself (I’m sensing a pattern here) which makes it sound as though the vocals are being piped through a blown, public speaker in the filthy street of a communist country. This characteristic gives his voice the quality of being something that you inherently don’t like and wish to shut out, but it also comforts you in the most strange way as though he were an actual political leader pointing out the fallacies of your own life through the example of his. Every now and then all of the music stops for less than a second before coming back in more distorted, and I think equalized lower. This track is a further disorientation piece just as the first one, and the echo at the end of Charlie’s vocal line continues to add to the feel that the voice speaking to you is coming from a loop recorded by a high ranking official. “Rats” becomes calmer for a brief moment at the end before fuzzing out much like the opening track. But instead of fading into the next song the listener is left with a haunting final word from the vocal track.

Track Three, “Teal Booth Friendship”:
This track starts off with a drum line that sounds much like the broken sticks in the first track, followed by a rather low, and slightly jazzy bass line (once again sounding akin to an upright played with a bow). While not in perfect harmony to a conventional meter, the bass and drum combo works, and vaguely reminds me of something that I’ve heard before; the listener very quickly is touched with a tone of familiarity. Sirens come in shortly to be followed with Charlie’s off beat but catchy vocals. At points in the song his spoken words become almost lulling, as the music turns down and fades into the background. This lull soon turns to head bobbing, and if you listen close you can hear what sounds to be (though it is most likely just residual feedback, whether intentional or not is to be debated) crystal glasses full of water with their rims being circled by delicate hands. This track drives, though not in the same way that the opening track does. It also allows the listener to find a point of contentment along the odd timing… Well, excluding the sirens cutting in that is. Around the three minute mark the song reaches what seems to be a point of frustration as various numbers of bass beats alternate between random siren screeches. This once again pulls the listener out of their comfort zone, but quickly allows them to fall back in. The ending once again becomes frustrated, and then seems to release in a quick, distorted burst, which abruptly is cut out when the next track begins.

Track Four, “Hide”:
“Hide” starts off with a very beautiful keyboard line that sounds close to a symphony, but after a few seconds of listening you can sense that the beauty is only a façade. Are those pick scratches in the background, or can you allow yourself to hear them as the sounds and screams of a person being tortured? A powerful drum beat kicks in after the beauty, and what sounds to be a distorted guitar plays a simple, yet emotionally charged lick. After a bit the guitar does seem to fall behind the rapid succession of snare hits however. This track also feels much quieter than the previous three before it, and the punkish feel seems to carry on a little too long before there is any musical change. When the lyrics do come in it is clear that the all powerful dictator vibe is pulled back into the arena, as Charlie (sounding at first more like an irate Nazi) informs you there is no escaping; you are in his mental realm now. While this track feels slightly lopsided, it does end and blend well into “The Way I Pray”.

Track Five, “The Way I Pray”:
The background music on this song sounds like something that might come out of an old broken Nintendo cartridge. It soon fades, and the simple bass line synchs up nicely with the descending drum line. The bass line begins sliding in a way that’s off putting at first, but one finds themselves being accustomed to it shortly, and even finding that it does actually match the drums. Vocally the singer sounds like someone obsessed with a sadistic mantra, and in some ways I think he is. Lyrically the song is a stab to everyone who thinks that all thoughts should be pure, and that there are set ways to going about any form of religion. “The Way I Pray” is one of the most straightforward tracks as far as timing goes: 4/4 and everything seems to lock in--if the chorus is overlooked. It ends with some very low end distortion, that is strangely blissful, at least until the mantra of “CLEAN” and glitching SNES game come back into play. Though, I wonder if it was the artist’s intent to get the listener thinking about old school video games right before the sixth track begins?

Track Six, “Child of the 90s”:
The beginning of “Child” instantly reminds me of cops episodes. The sound inserts are hilarious and tongue in cheek to me, and I’m curious as to why Charlie didn’t put in some more ridiculous Chris Hanson quotes. Then again, I can see how airing on the side of humor might distract from the reality of the issue addressed in this song--which is (from what I have been told) that creativity and music should not be accused for inciting violence in kids, but perhaps we should all take a closer look at those who collect our taxes every spring and see if they’re not doing anything that could cause systemic violence in adolescents. A fuzzy guitar line emerges from the sounds emitted by the ‘talking heads,’ and it definitely feels like something that would come out of the 90’s. The vicissitudes that befall the equalization of this track make it enjoyable to listen to for a while, even though nothing truly changes musically. For some reason, Charlie’s voice sounds more like that of a priest on this track, as he lists of some of the various terrorist attacks and tragedies that have befallen that era of U.S., and world history. Easily enjoyable, yet it still manages to carry with it a serious tone.

Track Seven, “Intermission”:
While humor may or may not have been the artist’s intent, I definitely found myself laughing while this track played. Something about the intrusiveness of that breaking glass sound cracked me up, and it provided a nice break from the actual music of the album. It disrupts the zone the listener may have gotten into while listening to “Child”, but it’s not an unwelcome disruption by any means. It also blends nicely with “Child”, as it gives the impression as though someone with modern day boredom is channel surfing. This is a weird enough perspective with the album, because for once you actually feel like you are in someone else’s mind, and not just being shown facets of that person. Overall I think this may be the most underrated track of the album.

Track Eight, “Moments”:
“Moments” begins with a huge dose of a melancholy low end riff, rife with distortion humming over the top. From there it melds into something truly beautiful, and I am in wonder at what some of those sounds are in it. Charlie’s voice comes in strong, and is almost surprising when it shows up. The emotion in his voice is in no way masked by the distortion he filters himself through, and while the lyrics may not be the most emotionally complex, there still rings something very true and human like within them. You no longer care how simple the lyrics may be because that is what this song needs: simplicity. It is the most beautiful song on the album, and it ends in a way that is neither abrupt nor drawn out.

Track Nine, “Bottom of the Hill”:
The final track has the nicest drum line out of all of the other tracks on this album. The combination of drum, sliding bass, and stupidly distorted guitar work extremely well at getting one’s head bobbing. It’s a jam that one could listen to for an extremely long time, which is a great thing considering this track is the longest, clocking in at 16¼ minutes. The changes in the riffs are well spaced and simple enough to not draw away from the vibe that is built with this track. This track is hands down the most Jammy (fuck off Microsoft for not having that be a word) track on this album. Vocally empty until almost 14 minutes in, the track sets up a good vibe before pulling the mic out of the closet. The lyrics seem to pose a question (to who is a mystery) if the singer has changed any now that he’s “Dragging Horse Bones.” I take this to be more of a sarcastic question than an existential one, though that could be personal interpretation as the album points to making a lot of personal progress with the artist. The ending leaves me with a rather haunted feeling, and actually caused me to shiver a bit.

Overall Review:
With all of the moments that catch the listener off guard and sets them in a state of musical disequilibrium I would not recommend trying to study or read while this album is on rotation. However, if you feel as though you have an emotion you want to try and get from another perspective this album may be just the thing. It progresses through many different forms in the hour it spins. The timed, spoken vocals may either prohibit or expand upon the emotionality of this album depending on what your standpoint is on the whole “spoken words” debate. Regardless of your position on them, it is clear that they work well with the music presented by this album. I only have to qualms with the album, and those are with the lopsided and stagnant feel of “Hide”, and perhaps the seemingly frustrated ending of “Teal Booth”. I say perhaps because I do like the way the track ends overall, and it may simply be a mood thing that is making me not appreciate the dialogue between the bass and the sirens. I definitely did enjoy the overall equalization of this album (being a bass player myself I can’t help it if I like the low end), and while this equalization may have formed out of a necessity to keep feedback and white noise down, it makes the album feel that much deeper. “Dragging Horse Bones” progresses very clearly from more odd metered, tedious feeling music, into songs that seem to touch the listener somewhere, even if they aren’t quite sure where. This ‘touched’ feeling can be close to both rape or the embrace of someone close to you depending on what track you have playing. Sometimes the two feelings even merge into one. While I’m still not sure where I would put this album on a scale of one to ten (I blame my latest case of musical apathy for that), I enjoy it thoroughly, and will be pleased when a track from it shows up in my random rotation.