Hadnot Creek
Hard World
(Hadnot Creek)

Hadnot Creek, an indie folk-rock band from Charlottesville, Va, includes singer-songwriter Robert Sawrey, multi-instrumentalist Zach Samel, guitarists Damir Kajan, Carter Litvinas and singer, Lucy Haden Smith. Their new album, Hard World, gives forth an interesting jangle of personal tunes, expertly rendered.

Opening with the definite jangle of “Methadone Guy,” Sawrey’s sleepy vocal and the way the band stays right in the pocket, lets the song just lay there for what it is, not getting far from the truth of the sound of it. This really brings the listener in for what’s coming.

The slappy and fun “Liars In Love” has a Tom Petty rush to it. It’s just upbeat rock and roll, with substance to the lyrics, as one finds across this full dozen. Things get nice and laid back on “Wedding Day” (are we into Lou Reed/Bobby Bare Jr. territory?), but again, the lyric slips the curtain back, and we get a very interesting story song of the reality of this very special day. What a great tune!

“Molly Was A Good Kisser” is a sweet acoustic flicker-of-a-song about the perceptions, good and bad, of early love, while the spooky guitar echo of the spoken-sung “Museum of Messed Up Stories” leads us down the path to the end of this wonderful album and the punk-y “You Got Caught,” and then the heartbreakingly honest “The Day I Started Using Again.” This one turns the country confessional on its ear, once again through the brilliantly wry songwriting of Sawrey.

Satire and silliness, tinged with pathos is not easy to manage, all in well-sounding tunes. Hadnot Creek does a great job of delivering all this and more on Hard World.