CD Reviews

Hunx | Hairdresser Blues

Hardly Art (2012)

By JONATHAN DONALDSON | February 21, 2012

2.0 Stars

The idea of Hunx and His Punx's Seth Bogart doing a solo album is kind of silly. The very nature of Bogart's performance style depends on him being able to lackadaisically spill his great vocal whine all over the stage while his band of Punx hold the narrative line behind him. So what remains when he's left alone? On Hairdresser Blues, Bogart does all the vocals and plays all the instruments himself (minus drums, played by Daniel Pitout of Nu Sensae). On tracks like "Private Room" and the self-referential title track (Bogart is a hairdresser), he more or less reconstructs the sound of the Punx. But his best stab at sloppy/charming punk comes off more like an out-of-tune, frat-rock version of Holly Golightly than any actual imagined girl group (the overkill of the "Be My Baby" beat just doesn't cut it). Things get more interesting in the more downtempo cuts, like "When You're Gone," where Bogart manages to find just the right balance of trash and gold. It's almost like he's found some shard of Mick Jagger or Kim Fowley that he's clutching to his chest like a talisman. A curiosity from a true talent.

HUNX AND HIS PUNX + HEAVY CREAM | Radio, 379 Somerville Ave, Somerville | April 3 @ 9 pm | 18+ | $10 617.764.0005

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