Hunx – Hairdresser Blues (2012) [Hardly Art] // Grade: B-

Hairdresser Blues, the debut solo record from Bay Area frontman Hunx, who usually plays bubblegum herky jerk opposite his Punx dropped this week via the Hardly Art/Sub Pop imprints. While it comes totally far from any surprise- Hunx solo does offer up much of what we’ve heard from the lanky frontman- the release, a literal reference to a salon he and a bandmate operate in Oakland, CA. does do a pretty decent job at lobbing a few noticeable differences into the mix.

Hunx (real name: Seth Bogart) has performed as such since the early 2000s as a member in electro funsters Gravy Train!!!! whom he danced along with before going on to his namesake fronting the Punx around 2008. Comparing his full musical catalog, it’s fairly easy to taste the mixture most all of his output has been steeped in- that loveable, tantamount trait- the slacking, romantic dreamer. With the Punx, Bogart is oftentimes overshadowed on this mix by his female-belting bandmates, he instead giving their diva touch some grounded, monotone male support but here, he’s naked, belting himself along through power pop hummers and slow-moving ballads.

One of the best things about that band set up- Bogart sided with Punx- is that the feelings get sort of teased up and tossed together between the two females and Bogart himself and the singer’s initial attempt at coming off front and center with a determined ‘solo’ direction here seems fairly lenient really. We get a bouncy, 10-song collection that’s thematically full of what it is we’ve already really heard from the singer. The romance will never leave; the teeny, spunky qualities of holding hands- it’s their obsession with an era where the warm glow of the car radio parked at some lover’s lane lookout is much better than the booming house party or the wild drag race. This continuous pull from under the swirl of the button-upped 50s to the blunt and forceful 60’s rebel yell fixes itself like a Venn diagram for many- Bogart and his former output included- and it’s certainly something worth engaging in considering the era fostered the very beginning of the general pop music template as we know it.

About that template: Bogart knows it well and across Blues we get the feeling that he sonically, he might want to use this time to try something new. Ditching Phil Spector for David Johansen, early punk and glam references slice and persist the set. Recorded with Richard Hell and the Voidoids’ founding member, Ivan Julian, the sound still goes down easy for both parties involved: Bogart feels ultimately more commanding on chunky tunes like “Private Room” and “Always Forever” and to the benefit of the set which does still include the recycled and lazy girl group appropriation references, those are two of it’s better moments. Both songs feel much more bounding and glamorous than most material on Too Young For Love, our last taste from Bogart.

On the other hand, “Let Me In” is cringy power pop, devoid of the leather-jacket attitude from “Always Forever.” On the glam-rock inked “Do You Remember Being a Roller, Bogart could fit a bill with The Smith Westerns and “Say Goodbye You Leave” mixes the indie canon played by the hopelessly lovestruck teenager locked in his room, pensive, under a pile of his records. The monotone, onmiscent vocals are one of the better qualities of whole thing and unlike the former sets where Bogart was oftentimes overshadowed by his Punx’s croons, cries and commands, Blues might settle the score. At the end of it all, the set’s biggest difference is a very literal one- the whole solo thing. No girls to sing, no additional vocal lines, no ongoing melody- both staples of the Punx material. Hairdresser is leaner and meaner indeed.

- The Holloweyed