New picture disc starring Withered Hand & Charles Latham

Stepping out with a new band, and joined by Pam Berry of seminal DC noisepopsters Black Tambourine, Withered Hand return to the fray with 'King Of Hollywood', a storming statement of intent from Edinburgh's DIY urban worriers.

Even more riotously melodic than Withered Hand’s last 7”, 2012’s 'Heart Heart' on Fence Records, 'King Of Hollywood' channels Neil Young’s Rust Never Sleeps, The Animals’ gutsy grit and the urgency of America’s classic alternative rock underground. Dan Willson pens a delightful elegy to his mentor, King Creosote, with a typically delicious sardonic lyric:

“I fell asleep watching a buzz band, I peeked out under my hood, some of the people there were losing their shit, please let me be misunderstood.”

'King of Hollywood' is a true garage version of a song that will feature on Withered Hand’s second album in more polished form, due for release in early 2014.

Tennessee’s Charles Latham has been self-releasing music digitally for 10+ years. “Hard On”, from Latham’s first full-length album, 2006’s “Pretty Mouth”, has been covered by many artists, including Withered Hand. “Next To Nothing Blues” is the first of his songs to appear on vinyl, a split 7” picture disc with, yes, Withered Hand.

“Next To Nothing Blues” is a 2:45-in-the-morning tune, aching with bittersweet late-summer malaise. It could be a cut from the musical version of a John Cheever novella set at a formerly grand country estate in the early 1970s, the score co-written by Ray Davies, Rufus Wainwright and the ghosts of Elliott Smith and Vic Chestnutt, performed by an Appalachian chamber quartet.

Want! How can I buy this record?
Mail order from the bandcamp, or direct from either of the artists, or from a few record shops and mail order outlets. We're sorting that out now.

Released: 5 August 2013