See other 4play Articles
Title: Hamell on Trial: The return of Bill Hicks
Source:
me
URL Source: http://www.me.com
Published: Apr 30, 2006
Author: Me again
Post Date: 2006-04-30 00:49:03 by Mekons4
Keywords: None
Views: 30
Comments: 1
I saw Hamell on Trial for the first time last night. I have liked his CDs, but they are hard to find and rather infrequent. He's basically the late Bill Hicks with guitars. Or anyway, one loud guitar. He promotes Hicks relentlessly, and is nearly as biting and vicious politically, but with a warmer persona. Now that he's on Ani DiFranco's Righteous Babe records, you can find his new one, Songs for Parents Who Enjoy Drugs, pretty easily. (And he has been sober for 19 years, so no, he is not encouraging drug use....) Anyway, I was about the only person there apart from Hamell that was over 23, so it was encouraging to see younger kids getting on the Bush must go train. It was rabid. His songs about Ann Coulter (unrepeatable, but having to do with her personal hygiene, and with the chorus, "you take the low road and I'll take the lower road"), Pat Robertson, and of course the squatter in the people's house went over HUGE. He went after Pat for his pleas to assassinate Hugo Chavez, suggesting the same treatment for Pat ("I'll even loan you the gun, let's make it the 700 Club minus one") and waxed nostalgic for all the things of his youth that are now gone ("malt shops, decent radio and....um....assassinations") and in general was hilarious. He's sort of a one-man Clash with a really loud Gibson acoustic guitar pumped through a Marshall amplifier. If bad language gets to you, avoid him, but he's genuinely hilarious and as sick of this crap as anyone I have ever met.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Mekons4 (#0)
Thanks for the review.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest