|
Press
Reviews
Austinist 'Hey Day' Review Austinsound.net 'Hey Day' Review Austin Chronicle 'Hey Day' Review Austin-American Statesman article by Michael Hoinski sideonetrackone.com 'Hey Day' review tapebombs.com: 'Hey Day' Review Austin Chronicle Interview Daytrotter austinsound.net: Tomorrow EP Austin Chronicle: Tomorrow EP Austin Monthly: March 2009 Issue Randy Reynolds blew into Austin 4 years ago from Houston on the heels of Hurricane Rita. Nailing the Gulf Coast only a few weeks after Katrina, Rita--the fourth most intense hurricane ever recorded--was overshadowed by its disastrous predecessor. Leatherbag, Reynolds' alter-ego/stage name, has a similar story. Anyone who has experienced a live Leatherbag show can attest to its full strength, but the name isn't as familiar as some other Austin acts--yet. Leatherbag and his five band members have taken their knack for Americana music and fused it with the forcefulness of mid-70's rock. While his previous folk-Americana efforts have garnered a critical, if not cultish, following, Leatherbag launched into 2008 with a rougher version of the same old stuff. "I sort of re-found rock n' roll," Reynolds says. Like a folk singer going out and getting a leather jacket and a smack habit, Reynolds has transformed his wistful acoustics for a harder rock simplicity that perfectly jibes with his still-honest lyricism. Reynolds the musician rediscovering old favorites may have given Reynolds the songwriter additional perspective. Love & Harm is an elegant tug-of-war with age and aspirations and reality. It is, in fact, the perfect album for those sick of hipster irony or put off by emo pretensions. If Bruce Springsteen had debuted with Nebraska and worked backward to Thunder Road, you might have some idea of how Leatherbag's sound has developed. Reynolds says he has been listening to a lot of Velvet Underground, The Modern Lovers, and The Feelies, and he calls his style one of 'new sincerity.' He is disarming about his sound; "The only thing I'm setting out to do is what's happening naturally." His folk-Americana fans aside, Reynolds insists, "I'm doing what I've always been doing, but now it's in a more palpable format." Leatherbag still plays Americana, though now it's evolved along the Springsteen-Dylan-Reed model of punchy beats and fuzzy electrics. One listen to 'On Down The Line' and you'll hear how unabashedly Reynolds' influences inform his playing. Jangly numbers like 'Here Comes Change' on Leatherbag's latest EP, Tomorrow, build on the gritty, hard electric sound of it's predecessor. "The thing that we're doing isn't a kitsch band," he says. Love & Harm, which Reynolds says is "very much a transitional record," gathered its share of praise, with KUT calling it one of the year's best 'smart rock' albums. That label belies the fact that anyone with three stones in his skull could enjoy a night inside The Mohawk with one of the city's biggest little-known names.---Jacob Cottingham NPR Austin Chronicle: Love & Harm Austin Chronicle: Nowhere Left To Run HearYa Lonesome Music |