Hard Times

Description

Third Man continues its reissue work of the Detroit band "Laughing Hyenas" with 2 albums compiled here in one release. "Crawl": By the time the Hyenas returned to the studio, Kevin Strickland and Jim Kimball had left to form Mule and had left John and Larissa without a rhythm section. Many people thought that was the end of the band. But it was not, as Todd Swalla (founding member of Necros) stepped in on drums and Kevin Ries on bass. Crawl is notably the only Hyenas record recorded in Detroit by White Room Studios. "Hard Times": This album saw another lineup change: Kevin Ries left and Ron Sakowski of Necros stepped in, the Hyenas traveled to Memphis to the legendary Easley Studios to record their last album with the one and only Doug Easley. On Hard Times, we see that the band's influences are more related to Howlin' Wolf / Muddy Waters than to Nick Cave / Iggy Pop. The total sonic assault of the first three records gave way to a driving groove that exudes a graceful Exile-era Stones atmosphere.