Sunburned Hand of the Man - Rare Wood
(Spirit of Orr)

Sunburned Hand of the Man - The Secret in Disguise
(Manhand)

Sunburned Hand of the Man has released some of its best work on vinyl and the shorter form of that medium tends to bring forth their most focused music. As a result, they may have caught the attention of an audience that might not have the patience to discover the pleasures of their longer form excursions. For their first CD release, they have chosen to keep the length of the disc at just over forty minutes, but even at this length, Rare Wood lacks the clarity the band usually brings to this duration.

Perhaps this is due to the fact that it is presented as a collection of "rarities" (which I can't help admiring as a perverse marketing move for a "first CD"). The core of Rare Wood is two performances done in Davis, CA (a radio broadcast on KDVS) and Vera Groningen several months apart in 2003 with a final short piece recorded in The Hideout in Gloucester, MA (a neat little front porch slide-guitared coda). Tracks from the Vera show are sequenced in between the Davis tracks, but overall it is the Davis tracks that shine brightest here.

Another way in which Rare Wood is rare in the Sunburned Hand pantheon is the prevalence of John Moloney's vocals. Clear, forward in the mix, and reprinted in the digipak, the lyrics are much more prominent than in any other of the group's releases that I've heard. In fact, in several cases in the Vera tracks, the vocals serve to crystallize the somewhat scattershot music. "Easy Wind" (from the KDVS show) starts things off with Moloney repeatedly chanting "I'll give you what you want", which evolves into a crazed rant as the drums and guitar coalesce into an expressionistic backdrop. "Gyp Hawkin'" lopes along on a groove for a while but never really takes flight and only resolves itself as Moloney's howls give it life halfway through. "Camel Backwards" picks up the pace a bit anchored again by vocal acrobatics ranging from echoed growls to Gibby-esque squeals and features a tremendous delayed trumpet solo.

But the 4th track, "Glass Boot," is the standout—a thrilling exploration of the many different sides of Sunburned Hand of the Man. It starts with a submerged vocal incantation as some guitar squiggles and phased drone slowly builds behind it and picks up a turbulent rhythm from the drums and keyboards. The bass takes over from the drums and wrenches a riff out of the murk. One guitar strengthens the charge while a second pulses against the growing urgency of the bass and drums discovering the molten core of the latent groove. A drum breakdown and then a breakout—all the improvisational mayhem that floated freely in the previous tracks latches on the monster backbone riff and a headbanging rock anthem is born! You can almost see the hair flying. The final minutes are easily one of the two or three most potent "rock" moments this band has recorded. This tune is a road I want to follow again and again, and alone makes Rare Wood a must have for fans of this side of the band.

On other Sunburned Hand releases, the final track might have been interwoven throughout the other tracks as a theme song (Headdress used this to particularly excellent effect), but left to the end of the disc, it feels a little tacked on, almost like a 7" B-side searching for a home. However, it's a remarkable departure from the heavier sound the band usually favors and hints at the true musical breadth they are capable of.

Issued as a tour only release, The Secret in Disguise ups the ante on the signature Manhand envelope design with a beautiful letter-pressed cover with a striking design by Josh Burkett and paste-on art and photographs from Rob Thomas and Valerie Webb. This is also the first CD for the label that has only released CDRs to date. Tour CDs often benefit from the context of the live performance that accompanied their purchase and Sunburned Hand has always had a strong ritualistic component in both their music and performance so it's not surprising that this music evokes potent visions and emotions in the listener. For me, the secret of this music is what goes on in the background; the "disguised" elements that draw one into the mad world of the Sunburned Hand of the Man.

Thematically, the disc proclaims a multi-layered mysticism; the title itself reinforces it. It's as if the band has channeled a hidden soundtrack to some dark pagan rites—equal parts black mass, vision quest, and meditation—and flayed it open on the altar. The constant throb of percussion is the unifying element, the hypnotic bedrock upon which all else is built. Sounds weave in and out over the course of the whole disc, sometimes recognizable and taking over the foreground as the snaking guitar line does in "Sexmap" but more often apparently amorphous drones that only reveal themselves to be nuanced microcosms on repeated listens. Even the vocals are pitch shifted and wavered to the edge of recognition—the voice of damned souls trying to make contact with this world.

If there is a weakness it is near the end of the disc where after an hour of riveting, carefully constructed moods, the pyramid loses focus near its apex. But this is a minor quibble since most listeners have likely been reduced to a euphoric stumble by that point and may welcome a chance to catch their breath. If you don't like music to possess you and bend you to its will, then set this one aside. If you liked the percussion heavy Trickle Down Theory... or any of the recent excellent No-Neck Blues Band releases, The Secret in Disguise is for you.

steve rybicki 2004 jun 18