Album Notes

A debut 30 years in the making
(a tree falls in the forest…)

Backyard Anthems, Human Hands’ First Full-Length Release
Available Now

Exactly thirty years after emerging from L.A.’s original punk rock scene, Human Hands have released their first-ever full-length CD, BACKYARD ANTHEMS, available now. Self-released on the band’s Secret Heart Records label, the CD offers 10 newly-recorded songs totaling 46 minutes. No 74 minute CDs for this band, no sir!

BACKYARD ANTHEMS draws generously from Human Hands’ origins as one of the premier Pasadena “art punk” bands of the late ’70s, weaving infectious melodies and gritty, glam-inspired rock themes into their already eclectic mix of jagged rhythms and edgy, danceable pop. However, the band remains a punk band in the true, first-wave sense of the word, maintaining a healthy disregard for musical genre boundaries and conventions.

Human Hands’ current sound is dramatically different from its early recordings (the singles “Trains vs. Planes” and “Jubilee”). Founding members and songwriters Dennis Duck (drums) and Juan Gomez (guitar) have no interest in being a nostalgia act. While the current band, which also includes Marc Salata on bass, Pierre Smith (New Marines, El Vez’s band) on guitar, and Jeff White on lead vocals, do perform some of the “vintage” Hands songs live, they are passionate about creating and performing new material.

Nine of the ten songs on BACKYARD ANTHEMS are brand new and reflect the band’s eclectic musical taste. From bouncy pop (“Everybody Wants To Be My Friend” and “Bloom”), to tense, angular restraint (“Blinding Light”), from sunny sarcasm (“Who Invented You?”) to tripped out Glam psychedelia (“Lemon Candy Sun” and “Rocket”), from breezy California-sound harmonies (“I Feel Good”) to power stomp (“Blame It On Bowie,”) the disc covers a wide range of styles and influences while somehow forming a cohesive whole. The lone holdover from the band’s past is the album closer, “Happy Ending,” a blistering straight-ahead punk rock song and a staple of the current live set.