The Hackles – A Dobritch Did As A Dobritch Should
Jealous Butcher Records – 16 March 2020
As sophomore releases go, The Hackles’ A Dobritch Did As A Dobritch Should is almost as seismic a leap as one could imagine from their debut. However, whereas such activity often presages a negative aftermath, in this case, the outcome delivers nothing but complete positivity.
Whilst the aforementioned The Twilight’s Calling It Quits, an eminently listenable collection, introducing a duo with great promise, was a somewhat spartan DIY home-recorded debut, captured on reel to reel tape in their living room, and featuring merely acoustic instrumentation to accompany the vocals, this follow-up presents as a much more professional and engaging effort.
Recorded at The Rope Room and Type Foundry Studios, in their home state of Oregon, The Hackles, Astoria residents and husband and wife partnership comprising Kati Claborn and Luke Ydstie, assisted by co-producer Adam Selzer, (Alejandro Escovedo, Von Trapps), who was also given free rein in his mixing role, have beefed up the sound substantially, not only through the electrification and expansion of instrumentation used, including drums, pedal steel, accordion, viola, violin and trumpet, not to mention keys of various sorts but also through the expedient use of technical in-studio devices such as tape delays. As a result, A Dobritch Did As A Dobritch Should is a much tighter sounding record. Yes, the essence of their sound remains indie-folk in nature, but new horizons and vistas emerge, creating both a greater familiarity and potency.
What has not changed, however, is the intelligent, highly melodic song-writing, with the infectious instrumental hooks, perfectly offset by sumptuous harmonies. Freed from the ‘constraints’ of their membership of the six-piece Blind Pilots group, (where incidentally they met in the mid-2000s when Israel Nebeker & Ryan Dobrowski were recruiting for new members of the then-duo BPs), in which they arrange and have specific roles, when working as The Hackles they have licence to flex their song-writing muscles and get the creative juices flowing more readily.
As to the subject matter of the album, the main thread appears to centre upon underlying dichotomies within life’s rich pattern, the choices we can make against those that are made for us, “It’s about the webs you can weave, and the webs that weave you”, Claborn explains. The interaction between these themes of the imbalance of power and subjugation manifests itself in the multi-faceted narratives contained within the songs; thus in addition to first-person lyrics based, one assumes, on personal experience, the listener is challenged to interpret from the viewpoint of various characters, from many walks of life, as their tales emerge, for example, the lover, the disenfranchised, even a lion. Such challenges are good, encouraging, as they do, rumination, inquiry and interpretation.
The album starts with a cracking track, Seven Lies, a truly captivating song, which, whilst surely being informed by British Folk from the 1960s and ’70s, features vocals which plausibly evoke Joni Mitchell. Enhanced by luxuriant strings provided by friend Kyleen King, and harmony vocals from Halli Anderson, moonlighting to great effect from the wonderful River Whyless, achieving what every album opener should, Seven Lies sucks you in and holds you hostage to the delights which follow.
The plaintive Dreamer moves like a gentle sirocco, far removed, I presume, from breezes encountered in coastal Astoria, with pedal steel and fiddle tastefully adding depth, warmth and texture to the piece, before moving seamlessly, literally on my copy, into Dominoes. Released as a single, the opening guitar riff and thumping bass line give way to an infectious, earworm of a stanza, (later repeated), featuring gorgeous harmonized vocals from Kati & Luke and Halli, together with clever delay effects Research shows that this song is inspired by a local Astoria legend in which a woman working in a brothel in the late 1800s would first seduce and then turn men into sturgeon. Seen also by the duo as a worker’s lament, the song builds powerfully, with swirling organ from Corey Gray and solid drumming from Cooper Trail, and possesses a great sonic richness.
The Show Goes On, a country-bluesy track, recalling, to these ears, Mary Chapin-Carpenter, is both an homage to, and reflection on, the life of Al Dobritch, born into a famous circus family in Bulgaria, who, escaping World War Two in Europe, and having later gained world renown as a circus impresario, eventually met a dark end in 1971 “in ’70, the axe it fell, cops and threat, gossip to tell, seemed every friend had turned to foe… he’d climbed his l5 flights, he saw the end in sight, a fliers’ dive, Las Vegas strip below”. This keynote song is firmly in keeping with the thread of the things that we can and cannot control; thus the somewhat enigmatic album title, together with the album cover painting by David Coyne, might be explained.
Peaches is the epitome of a slow builder, initially gentle, almost pastoral, as layers of instrumentation and harmonies develop to provide an ending swarming in atmospherics. The Empty Cups, imaginatively narrated from the point of view of a circus lion, travelling the country caged, might equally be a metaphor for a travelling musician’s life, and meshes Kati & Luke’s vocals beautifully, as does Dragon Or A Bird, a mysterious song, “was it a dragon or a bird, or just a shape we saw in the rain, feathered in all our flightless words” as the instruments, including clarinet, percolate throughout the mix, culminating, once more in memorable, layered vocals.
From an initial, simple banjo accompanying Kati’s voice, Luke’s dobro, a further reminder of his multi-instrumental acuity, interweaves with Aly Hanson’s mournful trumpet, before ghostly electric guitar from Jeff Munger punctuates this slow tempo song, accentuating perfectly lyrics which include “everyone has got their time of dying, so they say, and mine might as well be today… so I go”.
The penultimate song, A Mention, makes for a fascinating listen, whilst giving the impression of being written from the perspective of someone, relationship-wise, who feels aggrieved, “Did I ever have you right?”… and if I can be profane, where’s your goddamn shame, and would it kill you to mention my name?” the tone, underlined by Kati’s vibraphone contribution, is both mellow and pensive, belying the subject matter. Of similar interest is the track which closes the album. 86 Pages Of Secrets could be construed as a musical equivalent of a visual cinematic journey, as, lyrically, the listener is led from one location to another as the subtle arrangements, including organ are built around Kati’s anguished vocals, which etch indelibly in the mind.
Musically, this is an accomplished, engaging offering, with high-quality contributions and performances from all involved, complemented by excellent production and mastering. Lyrically, if one is prepared to engage with it, A Dobritch Did As A Dobritch Should could reward you with feelings akin to a close relationship, even friendship. The Hackles offer you a place on a journey, get on board and enjoy the ride.