Red Hex-Shoulda Known 7"

Negative Fun Records
2013

I don't know about you, but I'm having fun. So why the record label name my dear comrades of all things 7 inches? I'm having a fine and dandy, better with brandy, fun time with bands like Red Hex. And you know what? This kind of fun is the sort that usually starts with "And I was drinking..." and ends with "I should have known better". "Shoulda Known" is a lot like that missing evening to me. It's all fuzzy and a bit of a blur, but judging by the disheveled state I'm in it must have been one hell of a good time! Red Hex (Which sounds more like some kind of indie beer then the name of a band, but hey, what do I know?) hail from Tacoma which, as Neko Case described it, is "a dusty old jewel in the South Puget Sound / where the factories churn / and the timber's all cut down". And this here is the result. Or it's at least what would be left of any 60s/70s garage rockers after all that factory smoke lite them up and did them in. Imagine if you will that these dusty rockers managed to, in a "You had to be there to experience it" moment, record a couple of songs that were part urban decay and part "Green Grass and High Tides". Would it make much difference at all, would it add to the authentic nature of this newly recorded "old recording" (or would it persuade you) if I mentioned how it sounded as if the band was in one room and the person who was recording this was underneath them, possibly in the basement, simply holding up a hand-held recorder? Would it take away from it's charm any? No. What it lacks in sonic refinement it more then makes up for with it's soulful take on vintage "cheap beer and cheaper women" rock. There's a sincere sense of "Kick out the Jams Moutherf***ers!" as Red Hex, fuzzy as they may be, leans heavy on the guitar crunch while lightly dusting off any nonsense about being sensitive to the audience's pop yearnings. Red Hex plays for no one but themselves even as they spin you a tale as old as time. It's a tale about a time and place when rocking out meant tuning your amps with one hand while you tried not to spill your warm beer with the other!  Red Hex are a garage rock band for those of us old enough to remember what garage rock REALLY used to sound like. Thank the God of thunder and hellfire rock and roll that bands like Red Hex just might be able to save us from the soul-takers that give us garbage like the Grammys!

http://negativefunrecords.bandcamp.com/album/shoulda-known-7 




http://www.negativefun.com/redhex/