"Stories To Tell"

As musical trends come and go, The Hangmen have remained uncompromising since their formation in 1986. From big money major label deals to debilitating drug addiction, lead singer

Bryan Small has continued to charge forward with the headlong momentum of a runaway train.

Bridging the gap somewhere between The Gun Club and the Rolling Stones, the band’s latest offering, Stories To Tell smashes together Small's lurid love songs with unsparing, unsentimental blasts that shine a penetrating light into the dark and seedy corners of life. From the melodic “Midnight Riders” to the haunting “On The Outside,” Small delivers an album with a simplicity and depth of songwriting reminiscent of Neil Young and Tom Petty.

_“Midnight Riders is a rite of passage song. It’s the way my friends and I lived in our early days navigating life, being in bands and coping with everything as kids in Hollywood. We didn’t have boundaries. We had mentors who were notoriously fucked up geniuses in our eyes. I’m not surprised by the path we took for ourselves - some made it, some moved home and some died."

Small himself recently relocated after 38 years in Los Angeles to his hometown of Missoula, Montana, so his kids could grow up around family.

“We recorded in different studios over the course of about a year and a half, which is the way some of my favorite albums were made,” reveals Small, “This is the first record since Mike Ness (Social Distortion) produced In The City that I’ve kinda let go of the production and mixing to get a different view of these songs.”

Longtime Hangmen fan Rob Schnapf (Elliot Smith, Beck, X) also stepped in to produce two tracks on Stories: “On The Outside” and “Last Time I Saw You,” a tribute to “Rontrose” Heathman, the former Hangmen and Supersuckers guitar player who passed away in 2020.

Stories To Tell also includes a raucous cover of Credence Clearwater Revival’s “Sinister Purpose.” “CCR has always been a part of The Hangmen’s DNA to some extent. It was a bit of an overlooked song that spoke to us. Jimmy James (guitarist) brought it to the band and it was a natural fit.”

Stories To Tell will be released September 8, 2023 on Acetate Records. A month-long European tour commences September 13 in Paris.

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STORIES TO TELL PRE-ORDER

Label site: https://acetate.com/the-hangmen/

BandCamp: https://thehangmen.bandcamp.com/album/stories-to-tell

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"Cactusville"

THE HANGMEN set to release "Cactusville" 

via Acetate Records on August 23rd

The L.A. underground Rock legend's 7th studio album

"It's The Hangmen he wanted to kill... we got run out of Cactusville," laments Bryan Small on the album's title track of The Hangmen's seventh album. Flanked by longtime members Jimmy James (guitar), Angelique Congleton (bass) and newcomer Jorge Disguster (drums), Small recollects the harrowing tale of a gig in Tuscon promoting their major label debut. "It was such a formative trip for us as a young band. There was death, drugs, booze, guns, girls and rock n' roll... and we met some new friends along the way."

 

One friend in particular, Eddie Spaghetti of the Supersuckers remembers the gig well, "They pulled up in a perfectly shitty van and proceeded to literally fall out of it. I know that one of them immediately puked in the parking lot. Combine all the L.A. coolness of the dudes with the songs and, oh my god, no one could touch them. The fucking SONGS. Right out of the gate I was struck by the patient, laid back-ness of their rock-n-roll ways. They changed a lot about the way I thought about what a band should be and how songs should be delivered. They instantly became our heroes."

The Hangmen were formed in Los Angeles in 1986 and immediately caught the eye of Black Flag/Circle Jerks singer Keith Morris. Morris managed the band, and along with Bad Religion's Brett Gurewitz, produced the demos that landed them a deal with Capitol Records. They released their self-titled debut in 1987, but things soon came crashing down. A switch to DGC Records (the newly formed subsidiary of Geffen who's roster included The Nymphs, Nirvana, etc) seemed like the perfect landing spot for the band. Unfortunately, the album Suicide Doors was shelved and the band dissolved into addiction.

Not one to be down for long, a newly sober Small started writing again, the result was 2000's Metallic I.O.U. Tours with longtime fans Social Distortion and the Supersuckers followed. Ness would later produce The Hangmen's 2007 release In the City. "I totally feel like we're kindred spirits," Small says looking back, adding that both bands emphasize "simplicity, and doing what you do and staying true to that."

In 2010, the Finnish label Hype Records, Lost Rocks, an 18-song Hangmen retrospective. Shortly thereafter, former Supersucker, Rontrose Heathmen joined the band for 2012's critically acclaimed East Of Western.

2019 marks the release of Cactusville and another chapter of The Hangmen legend continues. Small has taken his brand of songwriting to another level, putting him in an artistic class with the likes of Tom Petty and Neil Young as purveyors of honest and simple songwriting.

Side 2 of the LP features the Best Western Players, Bryan Small's countrified side project. In the same vein as Neil Young's "American Stars and Bars," the songs take on a different feel, with vocal harmonies and haunting pedal steel echoing throughout. It's familiar territory for Small, who grew up in rural Montana before making his way to Los Angeles. "The 'country' side of The Hangmen has been there from the start, it stems from the love of Gun Club, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, etc.," explains Small, "the Best Western Players were brought in to realize the songs as they were conceived."

  

The Hangmen will join Acetate Records label mates the Supersuckers on a rare East Coast US tour in September. Additional dates TBA.

THE HANGMEN w/ Supersuckers (unless otherwise denoted *)

• 08/23 Los Angeles, CA @ Redwood Bar Record Release Party * 
• 09/02 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl 
• 09/04 Greenville, SC @ Radio Room 
• 09/05 Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall 
• 09/06 Wilmington, NC @ Reggie's 42nd St. Tavern 
• 09/07 Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle 
• 09/08 Nashville, TN @ Little Harpeth Brewing 
• 09/10 Richmond, VA @ The Camel 
• 09/11 Washington DC @ City Winery 
• 09/12 Harrisburg, PA @ 10th St. Stage 
• 09/14 Harrisonburg, VA @ The Golden Pony 
• 09/15 Pittsburgh, PA @ Hard Rock Cafe 
• 09/16 Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom 
• 09/18 Portland, ME @ Geno's Rock Club 
• 09/19 Hampton Beach, NH @ Wally's 
• 09/20 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East 
• 09/21 Amityville, NY @ Amityville Music Hall 
• 09/22 Brooklyn, NY @ El Cortez 

Cactusville Pre-sale - http://acetate.com/the-hangmen/

The Hangmen Website * https://the-hangmen.com 

Facebook * https://www.facebook.com/hangmen.usa/

Instagram * @the_hangmen * https://www.instagram.com/the_hangmen/

Twitter * @the_hangmen * https://www.twitter.com/the_hangmen/