A mere three hours after the Jayhawks' ignominious defeat to UCLA on Saturday, brand-new(ish) Lawrence band Fourth of July took the stage at the Record Bar. Lead singer, rhythm guitarist and main songwriter Brendan Hangauer was disappointed by the Hawks' loss and voiced his dismay at the beginning of the set, throwing in a few choice words. For an indie-rock troub, he's quite a fan of hometown hoops. He'd recently cut his long, shaggy locks down to a buzz, making him look like a self-flagellating ascetic, given the context.
Brendan Hangauer, resplendent in the hair he no longer has. (Photo: Jeffrey Isom)
But none of that despair cut through the Fourth's delightful set. The band consists of Hangauer up front; his brother Patrick on bass; his other brother, Kelly on keyboards, trumpet and tamborine; Steve Swyers on lead guitar; Brian Costello on drums; and Adrienne Verhoeven, solo artist, band member to Orenda Fink and ex-Anniversary member, on backup vox and tamborine. This shiny, unhappy, vagabond crew wasn't bristling with energy, but it didn't need to be, because the songs did most of the work. All the players had to do was hit the right notes.
Fourth of July's simple, tasteful, jangly indie rock harks back to '90s college radio -- R.E.M., the Violent Femmes -- but the lyrics, delievered via Brendan's withering Oberst-meets-Merritt baritone, and more clever and bored and woozily resonant. It's funny, pissed off, hungover and in need of a shave. There's shades of an underlying sense of "whatever" in the music, but it's not cloying or bratty. In fact, I'd say it's ultimately optimistic. Take the first verse of "In Debt," which is such a great example of plainspoken wit that the words got stuck in my head faster than the tune: I'm in debt/Just like my country/But she still believes in me/And she doesn't believe just anything. I fuckin' love that. Here, listen for yourself:
"In Debt" by Fourth of July:
The garnish on Hangauer's beer-cocktail songwriting is lead guitarist Swyers' fretwork. Standing quietly side stage, looking at his hands and rattling off tasteful, dextrous and melodic licks on his black Stratocaster, the plump, curly-haired fellow was like a slacker Eric Clapton -- and that's a good thing, because despite being hated by most people with taste, (a) Clapton can play guitar and (b) the comparison is appropriately ironic. I mean, look at the band's name.
Anyway, the Fourth put on a really satisfying set, swinging right to the top of my list of local bands I'm genuinely excited about. After the show, I talked with the owner of the band's label (Range Life), Zach, whose last name is also Hangauer. He's scored a distro deal through Saddle Creek to release four albums a year. This year's list will include Fourth of July's debut full-length in the summer and Verhoeven's solo debut in the fall. Of late, Lawrence bands have been faring well in the college/indie circuit, like Minus Story and White Whale, plus Range Life's own White Flight, and I'm thinking the Fourth of July's day will be here in time for a celebratory Independence Day barbecue.
Their MySpace: myspace.com/fourthofjuly3000
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