Their latest effort being 2012's Red Hot Minnows boasts a lively Americana feel-- think western circus. Each song on the album offers another scene of said western circus, identified by no more than one word. Yeah sure, there are technically some compound words in there, but NO MORE THAN ONE WORD names each song. It beats me what they're singing or oooh-ing about, but this detail is not important. The feel is what's pertinent here and Hands and Knees give a nice cavernous, yet full sound that makes some mighty fine house music. It almost makes you forget about the blizzard outside.
Moving backward here, we have the 2011 album Wholesome that more straddles the line of indie-folk-Americana. This is the show horse that spawned the aforementioned song "Piano Disappearing" that clippity-clopped its way onto my radar. No more puns, I promise. Further exploration of Wholesome led me to love other songs like hooky, dissonant "I Won't Miss You" and playful bitter dance hit "Dancing on Your Tears." The album grows more on the listener with every play.
Something worth knowing for indie slaves: Hands and Knees was recognized for their 2010 Christmas song "James Brown Died on Christmas" by the Cal Johnson of K Records/Beat Happening/Halo Benders fame on the K Rec site as something he was listening to at the time. That is all for that.
Moving backward still, H&K released Et tu, Fluffy? in 2009, which has its fair share of dynamic, high-energy tracks: "You Got Pop, You Got Style," "You Thought It'd Make You Feel Better," "Shove It Up Your Heart," etc. A nice close to this album is the delicate percussion and layered soft echoes alongside a gentle rant in "What Ever Happened to That Beautiful City?". This final soft melody satisfies a the polar ends of the emotional spectrum within Fluffy.
Finally [or rather firstly], H&K put out their self-titled work in 2007, where it all began. The band has kept glued to the same kind of styles that have been sprinkled throughout their music from the start. You'll hear some of everything in Hands and Knees: blues, pop, folk, motown, punk. Muah- perfection. The constant mix-up keeps me entertained, though a little sleepy. A three-day marathon leads me to this moment. These guys and gal have passed the test of repetition and are worthy of insertion into your library. GO!
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