the drag on the next one (Lagwagon - Hang)

Lagwagon - Hang

Why you'll love it:  most rocking album of 2014

Why you'll hate it:  still has a few FWC tropes

In the 90's Lagwagon was just a drop in the skate-punk bucket.  While releases like Hoss (1995) resonated with my peers, it never really spoke to me.  I was a Lookout! Records (Ramones influenced) kid, not a Fat-Wreck Chords (Black Flag influenced) kid.  It wasn't until Lagwagon's frontman, Joey Cape, branched out with Bad Astronaut that I began to appreciate his songwriting.  Through the experimental Bad Astronaut, a decade of hard living, and the loss of loved ones, Joey Cape slowly grew into one of punk rock's heaviest hearts.  Bad Astronaut's Houston, We Have A Drinking Problem is one of my favorite albums ever.  Lagwagon's return from hiatus in 2003 (Blaze), easily became the first of theirs I loved.

Hang not only is another great offering from Joey Cape, but a fantastic "roots" Lagwagon album.  You know when an old band does this sort of thing?  They say "We're going back to our roots!" and try to make something that sounds like their first two albums.  Most actually don't live up to their promise.  I didn't see Lagwagon make this promise, but Hang is essentially if their first two albums from the early 90's (Duh and Trashed) were made for me.  It's fast, angry, and aggressive skate-punk, peppered with speed-metal hooks and transitions.  Lagwagon now has the production value and talent to make this kind of music combination sound like a slick machine, and not a muddled mess.

Hang ROCKS.  It is, by a long shot, the most rocking album of 2014 I've heard.  The entire first half of this album rips.  Lagwagon confidently rolls along with this punk-metal hybrid, and I didn't for a second think it was corny or lacking.  Basically what they did was take two genres I've never really cared for, mixed them together in a way that completely won me over, and topped it off with Joey Cape's heartbreaking lyrics.

The greatest moments of this album are when Cape's songwriting collides with the song at high speed.  "Obsolete Absolute" is the hardest rocking song on this album.  A well drawn out intro, hypnotizing guitar riff, devastating drumming, and Joey Cape comes right at it with some of his best stuff.  Especially in the second verse

RUUUUUUN

Running, running, fall behind

Faster, faster, borrowed time

Heritage has lost its mind

We are undefined

It's like they took their comedic song "Falling Apart" and turned it into a nightmare.

Speaking of comedy songs, Hang is devoid of humor, but there is a well appreciated "pop-punk" influenced moment in "Burning Out in Style".  A callback to some of the most fun moments of Blaze, or their catchiest album, Let's Talk About Feelings (1997).  Though it may have all been to lure you into a false sense of security, so they can drop an anvil on you in "One More Song".  On the surface, this song has an inviting passion, and the first time I heard it I mistook it as simply a love letter to music and how you'll never get enough of it.  Hey, I was in my car at the time, not really paying attention.  When the piano moment hit, I just screamed "DISARM!" (my favorite Bad Astronaut song.)  "One More Song" has such a strong emotion to it, I mistook "love and loss" for simply "love", until one name gets thrown into the final chorus.  "...Tony"   OUUUUUUUCH.

I could go on and on about almost every song on this album.  An honest look at nicotine addition in "Drag"... The second wind moment of "Poison in The Well" ... Joey channeling Robert Plant during "Cog in The Machine"...  Lagwagon was a band I used to shrug my shoulders at in my formative years.  Now they're putting out one of my favorite albums of 2014.