Since 2007, Missouri’s favorite sons have been churning out one great alt country/indie rock album after another and 10 years later they show no signs of giving up the ghost. “Heart-Shaped Mountain,” their fifth record is just as strong as anything they have put out before.
Apparently, the band was already a week into recording this album when a hardware crash deleted everything they had recorded. The crisis forced the band to try different approaches to the song structures and brought about a new focus. You can’t help but cheer for modern day tech disasters listening to the album, as I can’t imagine a more powerful way to approach a song like “All With You” or “Going That Way.” The record is probably one of the band’s most optimistic releases, with relationships at the core of many of these songs.
A decade into it, the band have established their own brand of indie country, layered with Southern rock guitars, piano runs that would impress Leon Russell and harmonies that stick with you for hours. “Heart-Shaped Mountain” is Ha Ha Tonka at their best.
Ha Ha Tonka – Heart-Shaped Mountain / 10 tracks / Bloodshot Records/2017 / https://twitter.com/hahatonka / https://twitter.com/BSHQ