Hayes & The Heathens – Self-Titled
It takes just one song off the eponymous Hayes & The Heathens to beg the question why did this take so long? And it doesn’t even matter which song it is.
Native Texans Hayes Carll and members of The Band of Heathens have been friends for a long time and both play a distinct brand of Americana (Carll’s is more folk based and The Heathens more rock focused). They’ve even collaborated on and off over the years, but the self-titled Hayes & The Heathens is the first time they have all put out a full record together.
“Our collaboration was so natural and easy,” says The Band of Heathens’ Ed Jurdi. “We’ve been great compadres for such a long time, and it was just the right time for this project to come to life. I think you can really hear all of that in the music. This is really that rare alliance where 1+1 = 3.”
Across eight tracks, seven of which they wrote together, the group pulls together a fantastic collection that plays up the strength of each. “Nobody Dies From Weed,” one of the strongest songs, shows off Carll’s trademark witty lyrics and boasts some truly impressive harmonies. “Any Other Way,” with Boogie-woogie piano and some stellar guitar lines sounds like a time capsule find from the storied Armadillo World headquarters circa the mid-‘70s.
Rather than simply putting together a record that sounds like little more than a collection of odds and ends for each camp, the group stretched their sounds and experimented a bit on this record. “Nothin’ To Do With Your Love” is a dark, funk and Blues number unlike anything Carll or The Heathens have recorded before and “Water From The Holy Grail,” one of the finest moments on the record, is almost hymn like in its delivery and lyrical reverence, but closing with a smoking guitar solo. There is even a stellar, funk/country cover of The Proclaimers “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)”.
Across eight tracks, Hayes & The Heathens deliver the album we never knew we needed, but one you likely won’t be able to stop listening to this fall.
Check out our previous coverage here: Interview: Hayes Carll on “What It Is,” Reading More and a Sense of Humor
and here: Show Review: Hayes and The Heathens
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