PRESS DOWNLOADS (RIGHT-CLICK AND "SAVE AS"):
Hank IV photo [hi-res for print
or lo-res for web]. ©2008 geoffrey ellis.
Refuge in Genre one-sheet PDF.
Refuge in Genre cover art [hi-res for print
or lo-res for web].
Refuge in Genre download card art [hi-res for print
or lo-res for web].
Hank IV interview on San Francisco's KUSF, Tuesday, October 7, 2008.
BIO BLAB:
Hank IV's new record, Refuge in Genre, was released by Siltbreeze on October 14th, 2008.
A decidedly meaner, sharper, and more pummeling affair than their critically acclaimed debut, Hank IV's second album, Refuge in Genre (Siltbreeze), sports 11 songs in 30 scorched-earth minutes. "No visit to the lo-fi or shit-gaze" Quonset huts this, Refuge in Genre was recorded in shattering hi-fidelity by Tim Green (The Fucking Champs) at Louder Studios in San Francisco and mastered by Bob Weston (Shellac).
The rollicking San Francisco quintet known as Hank IV have been in the crosshairs of the Siltbreeze hunting rifle since just after their debut LP, Third Person Shooter, was released on the Hook Or Crook label back in '06. Attempts to release their Dirty Poncho 7-inch were squashed (the honor went to Plastic Idol) so Siltbreeze did what any jilted paramour would: decided to get even.
"The sound of Hank IV is a bit too wily and scrambled to pigeonhole as any one type of honk. Forward thinkers might tag 'em as panic-skiffle, combining the cunning and menace of compadres such as Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments or Country Teasers, with a dual guitar attack that nods toward the Bailey/Keupper-era Saints as much as those dudes looked at Smith/Kramer for their nascent moves. Through all this stutter and pummel, vocalist Bob McDonald (formerly of Denver hardcore icons Bum Kon) doesn't throw caution to the wind as much as atomize it. If a shattered leg can't keep this herc from heralding the apocalypse, do you think your tender widdle ears have a chance? Not likely, bub."
- Siltbreeze
The band's first album, Third Person Shooter, was called "one of 2006's top punk albums" by Maximum RockNRoll, charted as the #1 most played album on KUSF in October 2006, cited as "Best of 2006" by Terminal Boredom, #2 album of 2006 by WFMU deejay Evan Funk Davies, and the #8 album of 2006 by WFMU deejay Terre T. The band has played twice at SXSW, including 2008 for the WFMU 50th anniversary showcase, and performed at Gonerfest IV in Memphis in 2007.
As their alter-egos, Theme Weavers LLC, members of Hank IV wrote and performed the theme song for Tom Scharpling's Best Show on WFMU.
Per National Scene Authority full-disclosure laws, this website is obligated to report that Hank IV features former members of Icky Boyfriends, Bum Kon, The Roofies, Resineators, Coup de Grace, The Leather Uppers, and Brickbat.
WHAT THE PUNDITS SAY:
"...these Bay Area cranks spew garage-punk philosophy par excellence."
- SPIN Magazine, November 2008 (page 26...click SPIN page to embiggen)
"...as unashamed and rambunctious as any rock record that's been made since the Volcano Suns hung it up nearly 20 years ago... the men of Hank IV have become their own masters, and must answer to no one but themselves."
- Doug Mosurock, Dusted Magazine, November 2008
"There's quite a swagger to all this, even when the levels of frenzy are bumped down a notch or two, as on 'Sorry 'Bout The Boat Race', which slips into a crunching, slightly warped garage boogie. Good stuff.."
- Bookmat UK, October 2008
"Those of you sweatin the Tim Green (Fucking Champs) and Bob Weston (Shellac) involvement need to remind yerselves of the separation between crotch and heart. If anything, Green taps the spiget of heaviness that was waiting in their sound the whole time...Shit, it won't even take a half hour to get you drastic! High destroyability is waiting in these grooves."
- Wrenwreath Blog, October 2008
"Better, beefier, louder, bolder than last year's Third Person Shooter. This is smart punk without being brainy done by
music freaks who know not to clog shit up with obscurity."
- Scott Soriano, October 2008
"For this brand-new LP on Siltbreeze, Hank IV made it an absolutely great album....certainly one of the handful of very best LPs of the year."
- Rick Ele, KDVS
"Hank IV is all about bringing the swaggering, spastically flailing, hard-charging rock. Hearkening back to the rousing sounds of '80s/'90s punk, this quintet of S.F. scene vets has a sound resembling Mission of Burma drummer Peter Prescott's other band Volcano Suns, with hints of everything from the Fall and Country Teasers to West Coast old-school in the vein of X, Dead Kennedys, and Crime. What elevates Hank IV above the middling fray is the band's ability to deliver punchy garage rock with snarky lyrics. Loaded with anthemic tandem vocals and dueling guitar clamor, Third Person Shooter makes a solid addition to San Francisco's current rock arsenal."
- Mike Rowell, SF Weekly
"San Francisco act, Hank IV, play a throaty, rollicking version of rock'n'roll that cuts through the grease with the grimy edge of wry-hooked songs. Their sound hints at being a fun live band, and they play feverishly danceable tunes that will have the entire audience acting like idiots by mid-set. Their last album released on Hook or Crook Records, "Third Person Shooter," came with high acclaim, and they another on the way on Siltbreeze titled 'Refuge in Genre.'"
- Victim of Time
"Hank IV are rude, ill-tempered, potty mouthed ruffians whose music has absolutely no socially redeeming qualities other than enormous raw energy, infectious, hard-charging tune-age and enough kinetic wallop to T.K.O. a narwhal. They're very much informed by the skeazier side of pre-HC punk. All their songs evince a marked sense of rhythmic strut and swagger. Each and every one comes equipped with an ear-catching rhythm guitar riff that'd be the envy of anyone from AC/DC to the early Who. Lead singer Bob McDonald has one incredible piercing sneer of a voice--think of Jello Biafra sans helium--that he wraps around lyrics that are unashamedly hate-riddled, dripping with disdain. These are often times bolstered with rambunctious group shout-along choruses. It sounds rousing as hell on record, all though if you heard this behind you on a deserted street you'd sure wanna be packing heat. Hank IV basically make the Dead Boys sound like Midnight Oil in terms of 'tudes projected."
- Your Flesh Magazine
"Incredibly brainy, powerful and genuine twin-guitar punk rock played by folks who have seen, done and snorted it all. Third Person Shooter is one of the year's top punk albums, offering up a powerful take on Rock'N'Roll with million dollar smarts and a drug-addled, spiteful 70s punk mood, minus all the smirks and fashionable clichés."
- Mitch Cardwell, Maximum RockNRoll
"Blistering, classic punk, pitched somewhere between the raw power of the Saints and the jokey belligerence of the Nightingales."
- Pop Matters, live at SXSW 2008
"The importance of Hank IV to San Francisco cannot be overstated. FINALLY: a band that can stomp shit over any fashionable touring glass-breaker. The sneers of neighboring cities be damned! The genuine tension, anger, brains and sheer volume of any given Hank IV live show is enough to fuel a spree-shooting."
- SF Bay Guardian, February 27, 2008
"Frisco's sexiest seniors follow up their excellent debut album with 'Dirty Poncho' an excellent 45 that recalls non-hardcore LA punk of 1982. Specifically, I'm thinking of Flesheaters territory. Read: territory, i.e., smart, well written rock & roll with an edge as well as some respect with the sounds that came before it."
- Z-Gun Magazine
"The new 7" from Hank IV 'Dirty Poncho'/Symptomatic' gets the pulse racin' like I figured it would. The a-side find 'em at their most aggressive yet, spinnin' a yarn about a gal (I think) I know who has a thing for the 'Susan Atkins look'. She's lucky they didn't say nothin' about that moustache. Right Sanchez? Ding! The flip chews & spits out more of the proto-skiffle tar 'n tuneage these guys have been excellin' at since their inception."
- Siltblog
"Whoa, check out singer Bob McDonald's moves; part Sally Can't Dance era live Lou Reed herk, part 'She Lost Control' era Ian Curtis jerk, part Jack LaLanne dedication, part Robbie Robot spazz arms from 'Lost In Space', part Robert Shields in sweat-face. Awesome! The rest of the band was killin too, the twin guitars were like the sonic attack of Bailey/Kuepper from prime era Saints, the bassist was throwin down solid & the geezerly dude on drums looked like he was wound pretty tight too. His arms & feet couldn't stop! It was great."
- Siltblog
"Smart, cliché-free, punk rock with the kind of edge you find in mid 70s CLE punk or Crime-ridden San Francisco. Nine strong songs pack this puppy, three of which (Melonhead, Tonight We Ride, Crime of the Scene) are great and one of which lands in my all time classic punk songs list. That one classic is Hole in My Eye, a tune with the drive of the Viletones' Screaming Fist, but a bit smarter. How good is it? I am writing this from the emergency room because Hole in My Eye kicked my balls so damn hard they have swollen to the size a grapefruits. I might have the doctor replace them with a pair of steel ball bearings. I wanna be ready the next time I see them live. Really. I am not lying to you."
- Scott Soriano, Z-Gun
"A sick combination of Volcano Suns and Blue Cheer and Chain Gang!"
- DJ Terre T, Cherry Blossom Clinic, WFMU
"What teacher's lounge did these guys meet in? These over 35s knocked out some great Crime meets Chain Gang meets Viletones meets Styrenes punk rock, that hearkens back to the dark grunt of late 70s Frisco punk, while remaining fresh."
- Terminal Boredom
"BEST OF'S" FOR THIRD PERSON SHOOTER LP:
"Best of 2006" - Terminal Boredom
#2 album of 2006 - Evan "Funk" Davies, WFMU
#8 album of 2006 - Terre T's Cherry Blossom Clinic show, WFMU
"One of 2006's top punk albums." - Maximum RockNRoll