My world was rocked Monday night. Beforehand, I was pumped about seeing The Seedy Seeds and Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin. While they were both as good as I’d expected (as was opening act Wake the Bear), someone else stole the show for me that night: Ha Ha Tonka. Maybe it was because I wasn’t expecting much, not being familiar with the band and all.

These guys had some of the sweetest southern harmonies I’ve heard in a while, with some awesome riffs to boot. Frontman Brian Roberts said he likes to think of the band as somewhere between bluegrass (vocally, I’m assuming) and indie rock, adding that Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver was just as much an influence on him growing up as REM. It shows, too.

The highlight for me was when the band covered Black Betty, it wasn’t gimmicky or disingenuous in the least. 12-Inch Three-Speed Oscillating Fan contained some great moments, too. So here’s that song from Ha Ha Tonka’s Daytrotter session and photos of everyone (minus Wake the Bear) in action after the jump.

[audio:hahatonka_fan.mp3]
Ha Ha Tonka – 12-Inch Three-Speed Oscillating Fan (Daytrotter)

5 Responses to “Ha Ha Tonka Steals the Show with Seedy Seeds and …Boris Yeltsin Monday Night”

1. On 07/23/08 5:38 PM, Josh Mock said:

   

   That’s quite a headline.

2. On 07/24/08 4:41 AM, jesstaylor said:

   

   These guys came to my college last year and put on a great show. I’m glad they are getting some recognition.

3. On 07/24/08 12:09 PM, Joe said:

   

   Glad you enjoyed the show. SSLYBY was without the voice of their lead singer that night, not sure if it was mentioned or not. Even so, glad the other bands filled the void.

4. On 07/24/08 1:55 PM, Sean Cannon said:

   

   I forgot to mention that, but SSLYBY still performed admirably. It was all so good that I kind of forgot about that.

5. On 09/22/08 1:54 PM, BUZZGRINDER » New Video From Ha Ha Tonka said:

   

   [...] when Ha Ha Tonka wowed me a while back? Well, they’ve got a new video out for Caney Mountain, my favorite song from their Bloodshot [...]

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