Whether The Hangmen regarded themselves as Americana when they formed in 1986 is questionable – but this new release which sees the band staying true to their own musical heritage has file under Americana written all over it. Hints of early snarling Tom Petty and Neil wearing the mantle of godfather of grunge hang around ‘Midnight Riders‘ which is taken from The Hangmen’s latest album ‘Stories to Tell‘, their first full length release in four years.
Lead singer Bryan Small says of this song “‘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.”