With his third solo record after the dissolution of Royal Trux, NeilMichael Hagerty finally feels like he's hit his stride and is firmlyresiding in his comfort zone. There is an ease and confidence to thesongs and his voice on The Howling Hexthat suggests the sometimes novelist and multi-instrumentalist iscomfortable in letting his often juxtaposing styles just exist andletting the tape roll. The album is essentially three separaterecording sessions with three live tracks interspersed that seem to begrouped thematically after that to form four sections of the album. Alot of the songs don't even hit the three-minute mark, and sometimesthat's a shame but mostly it's just perfect. The aura of these songs isall over the map, with sometimes sexy horns and raunch driving theproceedings, sometimes standard bass-drums-guitar fueling the randomramblings. Over it all, the driving force is the volatile vocals ofHagerty, calling for your first-born child or the end of it all, andchanging, chameleon-like, for whatever comes next. The most impressiveaspects are the brevity and bare-bones approach to most tracks. Thereare no unnecessary ingredients, no noodling or canoodling, just what ittakes to finish the song off. And it all feels right. In fact, thelongest tracks are the live tracks, which are especially revealing,letting a hint of the raw power turn on in what almost seems likemostly improvised and extended versions of two previously releasedsongs from his first two records and a new long jam. There seems to bea warts-and-all approach at play, and maybe that's another reason it'sso refreshing, like it doesn't always have to be dense and calculated.Certainly it's not easy listening, but it sounds easier on the man whodishes it out, at least.Read More
