Human Hand Animal Band
Gold Standard Laboratories, 2004

This criminally unknown “experimental rock band” from Austin released this aural curiosity on the GSL label as it began to slow down its prodigious output of margin-walking bands in the mid-2000s. Despite the hangups I had with the “experimental” tag, which often is code for 60 minutes of grating, random squawking or farty blurts, and despite the ugly vertically-stacked type and odd still life cover photo that left the art school nerd in me desperately lamenting the missed opportunity for some literal black ink lines rhythmically applied as an illustration and some tastefully crafted hand drawn type, I still gave Human Hand Animal Band a chance. I’ve now had 20 years of gratitude for that fruitful roll of the dice.

For whatever reason, this particular release isn’t legitimately available via Bandcamp or streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify, yet their first album and EP are, which is too bad because Human Hand Animal Band is a much more interesting swansong release that easily outshines their more readily available releases. Their earlier records are a decent, perhaps better-than-average take on the post-hardcore/emo that came along about 5 years before with groups like Braid or Boys Life, with a touch of Polvo’s artfully arranged and inventive indie rock. Human Hand Animal Band, however, is a completely different animal.

Playing a track from this record next to one of the tracks from their other releases, you’d definitely think it was two different bands, as this record is drenched in a cascading wash of echoey guitar, dramatic vocals, and instrumentation atypical of their peers. It’s almost like an earnest post-hardcore band discovered the early Eno records, chorus pedals, and went hard into an art rock expedition flavored with a vaudevillian strain of goth. The drunken trombone on the fourth track “My Suzerain” is a perfect example of the unexpected flourishes this band took with this ambitious album, adding those extra touches that push its rock foundation into new territory without completely losing its pulse. And it’s not just the details that get a lot of thought here, as “Dark Mountain (Performance for Two)” demonstrates how the band can also get mathy in terms of fret calisthenics and cerebral arrangements of broken time signatures before the rollicking title track unexpectedly blasts into techno beats. This album is all over the map in the best way.

Never released on vinyl, this 2004 masterpiece certainly deserves a nice vinyl reissue for it’s 20th anniversary. Let’s hope there’s a label out there as daring as this forgotten band that can make that happen.

Rhythm of Black Lines – Tooth

Rhythm of Black Lines – One Red Eye

Rhythm of Black Lines – My Suzerain

Rhythm of Black Lines – PJS (1)

Rhythm of Black Lines – PJS (2)

Rhythm of Black Lines – PJS (3)

Rhythm of Black Lines – Is It In Or Is It Out

Rhythm of Black Lines – Thames Yawner

Rhythm of Black Lines – Dark Mountain (Performance for Two)

Rhythm of Black Lines – Human Hand, Animal Band