I’m going to do for this record what I never did (but should have done) with Pound For Pound: I’m going to play it a lot. Right now I’m going to play it for the second time in an hour, and never mind that the vibrations from typing are making the speakers cut in and out.

The record I am listening to now is called Howling Hex XI, and it is the somethingth record by Neil Hagerty’s current band, The Howling Hex. Somethingth because there are a lot of them, and because it is sometimes hard to distinguish The Howling Hex’s “official” releases from limited editions, vinyl only or CD only editions, solo records and so forth. I would call this album #7. I think.

I like this record. It is simple but not simplistic, chill but intense. It cuts through from that other dimension that only Neil can see but it does not drown in the thick and heavy atmosphere. This music is not pretending to be, or even trying to be, anything.

It feels like rocknroll played in hot, dry weather. It is crunchy and driven, but only driven so far. It is nice that they bothered to write songs, however beautifully casual those songs may or may not be. “Lines In The Sky” is the first one to stick in my mind, the title popping up as a joyous, desperate refrain at the end of each verse of this bumptious shuffle.

But it would have been OK if they hadn’t written songs at all, witness the previous disc Nightclub Version Of The Eternal, which consists mainly of 7‑minute jams based around simple hooks and propulsive rhythms.

Nightclub Version Of The Eternal, by the way, sounds great when you are driving through rural Idaho.

Howling Hex XI, which may also be called Out Of Focus or Monster / Bird or SkullHat or something, consists of shortish, begrooved but gritty rocknroll songs, plus a spoken-word-type-thing which is not to be taken unawares. The way the instruments relate to each other is at times reminiscent of Ornette Coleman’s Prime Time electric double-quartet, at other times more like a slightly angular post-everything 2‑guitars-bass-drums-horn rocknroll band (although there is only one guitar). Think Voidoids for example. You could move to it in a club, you can dig it at home, it works in either setting. Howling Hex XI holds up to close scrutiny and also keeps you moving while you cook. You can cook with it. 

Neil Hagerty plays bass on this record. He was on his way there already, playing baritone guitar on Nightclub Version Of The Eternal. I am only aware of him ever playing guitar in a performing band before this, although he has played many instruments in the studio. He wrote only four of the twelve songs on this record. Perhaps these things reflect the evolving democratic nature of The Howling Hex. Neil had stated years ago that democratic was what he wanted, as opposed to him with a backup group. The democracization was at that time taking longer than he had hoped. So it goes.

The guitar sounds on Howling Hex XI are ragged and clipped but not actually jagged or painful. The vocals are much the same. The bass playing is mostly subtle and solid, unless it is distorted and soloing loudly. Sometimes there are congas.

Some of the band members, but not all of them, have played on other The Howling Hex releases or performed live with the group.

Pound For Pound was the final album by Neil Hagerty’s prior band, Royal Trux. It’s an amazing record in many of the same ways, from instrumentation to sonic approach. I think I only played it twice, for fear I would begin to understand if I listened any more. I need to keep some mysteries open for myself, lest I get bored.

I am not concerned, here, that I will understand anything, except maybe how not to worry about if I understand anything. And if I don’t get that far, that is okay.