HA HA TONKA - NOVEL SOUNDS OF THE NOUVEAU SOUTH (LP)

Ha Ha Tonka Novel Sounds Of The Nouveau South on Vinyl LP! 

Written in 1907, The Shepherd of the Hills, a novel by Harold Bell Wright, is the story of an old, mysterious man (The Shepherd) who leaves the city for a remote hills life. Through encounters with others, he gradually learns to find peace with losses he’s experienced and those yet to come. The novel is an Ozark classic, and comprises the basis for Ha Ha Tonka’s second full length record on Bloodshot Records, Novel Sounds of the Nouveau South.

It’s dense subject matter for any artist, but delivered beautifully on this record by Springfield, MO native sons Ha Ha Tonka. Named after an Ozarks state park, the band has earned comparisons to Kings of Leon, Old 97s and Fleet Foxes. Following their last record, 2007’s critically lauded Buckle in the Bible Belt, the band gathered up their four-part harmonies and tore across the nation, opening for Ben Kweller, Backyard Tire Fire, and Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin before their well-received show at Lollapalooza 2008. This record, driven but contemplative, mysterious but clean, delicate but much more guitar-heavy than the previous effort, is the next logical step in their musical journey.

From the junebug-like humming guitars that open the record on "Pendergast Machine," to the tent-revival spiritual a capellas complementing several tracks, this record is a product of whence it came. From religion on the eponymously named "Walking on the Devil's Backbone,") to retribution on "What Shepherds of These Hills," Ha Ha Tonka tackle bleak material with a sense of lightness and perseverance, and a lyrical sensibility that's sharp as a tack.