Come hell or high water—and the latter, at least, certainly seems to be on its way—people are never going to tire of music stripped down to essentials. You see this in a number of seemingly disparate styles: thumping dance music in the clubs; two and three chord punk at all-ages shows; elemental rock, from Neil Young to Pearl Jam and from "Wild Thing" to its descendent, "Smells Like Teen Spirit"; and, in another realm, the once-again popular ancient music of Gregorian Chant and Hildegard von Bingen. Simplicity or uniformity of rhythm, melody, or both characterizes all these strains, notwithstanding any complexities, hidden or otherwise, that may also adhere.
American folk music, too, has always relied on simple building blocks, but right now there's a special emphasis on raw, "authentic" sounds and compositions. No band exemplifies this spirit and trend better than Hillstomp, the Portland, OR duo that has just released its second full-length CD. I caught up, electronically, with the band, otherwise known as Henry Kammerer and John Johnson, as they toured California before returning to the Pacific Northwest.
The band, which proudly calls itself "Portland's third greatest guitar / bucket-n-can duo," creates a unique sound out of trance blues, hillbilly grit, and an undercurrent of goofiness. With only voices, a guitar, and a "drum" kit made of buckets and other assorted objects—plus, occasionally, a little harmonica and keyboard from friends—they bang out traditional songs like "John Henry," country blues nuggets by R.L. Burnside and his mentor, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and original songs. Tempo and mood vary but a certain gloomy glee remains fairly constant. Hillstomp's ragged sound comes out of who they are, but it is also reactive, as percussionist Johnson explains:
It comes naturally to us because those are the elements of blues and country that we like. From a performance standpoint, it comes naturally because it's really the only way we really know how to play. It's [also] a reaction, even if unintentional, just because we don't like the kind of polished and pretty blues and country you're talking about. For us, blues is all about grit and dirt. It's not about notes, or technicality or any of that crap. Does it make you want to shout and holler? Does it make you feel a little dirty? These are things it should do. If it makes you say, "Wow, the production on this is impeccable! Mr. Segal's solo over the bridge on track 3 is really hot," you should be slapped.
As a reviewer who finds himself saying just such things now and again, I consider myself duly slapped. Kind of like the guy in the cowboy hat on the cover of Hillstomp's new CD The Woman That Ended the World is about to get slapped if he doesn't let go of that woman's arm and let her get on that train. She must have realized she could do a lot better; Hillstomp, on the other hand, hasn't tampered with its successful formula. The production on the new CD is a little cleaner (*slap* ouch!) but that is of little importance. More significant is that with their single method and limited palette the duo can create enough different musical statements to make two full-length Hillstomp CDs a good listen all the way through.
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