Hangnail

Item: Hangnail
Author: Kevin D. Hendricks

(1999)

Reviewed by Kevin D. Hendricks

Discogs Apple Music TIDAL Amazon Music Spotify YouTube Music

Label BEC RecordingsReAL Magazine1999

heavy metal pop punk punk skate punk

Hangnail is a four piece punk band from southern Wisconsin. They're a young band and from what I can tell, completely unheard of. But BEC Records usually knows what they're doing, and I think they discovered a talented bunch with Hangnail.

Their self titled debut CD isn't exactly Grammy material. It probably won't turn too many heads. But you have to respect it for what it is. High school punk bands are a dime a dozen, very few of them can play well, let alone write anything well, and quality production is a foreign concept. Local punk bands usually get by with their live shows and selling substandard tapes and CDs to satisfy their local public until the next concert. Hangnail manages to rise above the local scene and begins to grasp some of what it takes to be a national success.

Musically the album is impressive for a punk band. Two guitars give them a lot of freedom to experiment and make some interesting sounds. When they take their time with intros and bridges it's usually a worthy effort. Lyrically Hangnail holds their own. I don't think their lyrics are spectacular, but they do cover substantial ground. Subjects include abortion, God's love, anger, hypocrisy, and the punk favorite, being a band ("It all started out with a stupid name in eighth grade / we never thought it would amount to much."). Punk music is rarely impressive vocally, and Hangnail hardly differs here. The vocals are average at best, but the one redeeming quality is their liberal use of harmonies. Yeah, harmonies, in punk rock. What a concept. A number of their choruses are charged with strong backing vocals and sometimes even harmonies. It adds a certain strength and intensity to the music. Finally, Hangnail's production is top notch. I wouldn't expect anything less from BEC, but for a punk band it's nice to have a clean, polished sound for once.

'Double Standard' is a good example of their musical talent with its one-minute-plus intro. 'Worthless' urges us to "hold the wealth of the world / loosely in the palm of our hands," and ads a unique choir type chorus at the end. My favorite song has to be 'Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Your Anger.' The chorus is the title line repeated four times--borderline repetitive--but their use of harmonies redeems the song and makes it stick in my head in a way I love.

All in all Hangnail is pretty fun punk band. It's not ground breaking music or the best album of the year. But if you like punk music it's worth your time. The foursome reminds me of an early MxPx and I'll be keeping an eye on them in the future.