hit me with your best shot

Hankshaw
Nothing Personal

oh hankshaw...how i love to hate you. or hate to love you...one of those. anyway, from the bowels of the same city that brought you scrog and assuck, the devil's asshole (tampa, florida), came this utterly delightful band. if you like your punk extra poppy, or your rock really peppy, you might just like hankshaw. actually, if you like your boys to sound like girls, you will like hankshaw. aside from the tight musicianship and hooky as hell music, the defining characteristic of this band is harold's singing. this isn't your typical "emo" crybaby singing or the painful scream-singing of all the other bands in this "genre," harold belts out some seriously lovely girly-ass vocals. but in a good way. there were time when people actually thought it was a girl singing. i've been at shows where people were disappointed not to see a sweet young girl take the stage. instead, it's some dude named harold! anyway, these guys were great. and i use the word "were," not only because i think they are no longer really doing much, but also because they turned into something completely differet from what these albums represent. this was their first big full length album. its catchy as hell.

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Hankshaw
7"

a 2 song 7". i can't remember if this came out before nothing personal or after, but it features my favorite song of theirs, "maple." its a peppy little number that always reminds me of driving my car. maybe because i had it on a cassette mix that i listened to in my car alot. that could be the reason.

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Hankshaw
Everyday I Wish You Harm EP

as the title and art suggests, you can probably figure out what this ep is all about. you definitely notice a progression in the songwriting on this thing. it gets way less punky. i really thought they were gonna hit it big with this one. doghouse was putting out some good records at this time, and it seemed like this one just got overlooked. who knows. features a wicked pat benetar cover.

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Hankshaw
EP

so yeah, i put this record out. and it burned me. at the time i was super into the harm ep and the 7". they were random acquaintances of mine and when they were on tour with elliot, i went to go see them in nyc. i chatted with them about doing something and they were super excited about it. so we made the plan. i threw them some money to record. they eventually sent me a dat tape with the following songs, and then i never heard from them again...haha. when i listened to these songs, i'll be honest, i was disappointed. i wont say they are bad, because they are not. they are actually terrific songs, but its just not the same band i loved. it is some super dawsons creek soundtrack kinda stuff. unbeknownst to me at the time, they were going through some changes. somewhat of a crossover phase into "mainstream" or proper radio songs...who knows. i even tried to roll with it. when the cd came out, i repeatedly pleaded with them to let me put together a promo package i could send to radio and magazines and everything. but my pleas fell upon deaf ears. they just werent interested anymore. after the cd came out, i seriously never heard from them again. not a word. the only people at all interested in the cd were people from tampa. i legitamately sold maybe 200 of them and the rest i gave away. i even sent a box of 100 to ebullition and asked kent to please put them in packages he was sending out...FOR FREE! a month later i got the box back and a message from kent, "sorry." haha. amazing. i sent yet another message to the band saying i will pay all the shipping if they want the cds. i will send them the remaining 500 for them to do with what they please, i just need them out of my house! nope. never heard a word. the box still sits on my shelf. fucking hell.

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from what i've understood. they released another album after this. i think they do movie soundtracks now. or they just mess around in the studio or something...who knows. i even think they moved to atlanta. wierd. well these records are still good anyway. i hope you enjoy.