Over the last few years, a sudden rush of bands drawing influences from the 90s noise rock sound and combining them with heavy, sludgy riffage has appeared. At worst, this blend has resulted in dulling down of both elements and at its best we have bands like HAAN. Formed in 2012, this NYC quartet can deliver a ton-of-bricks riff exactly when it's needed and kick you in the knees with quirky dissonance when you least expect it. Not only do they 'have the sound',HAAN's song writing skills set them apart even from more established bands.
"Sing Praises" was originally released as a cassette limited to a measly 100 copies and sold out immediately in 2014. It was released under the band's original name No Way, so the vinyl pressing of "Sing Praises" proudly presented by Kaos Kontrol marks the first official HAAN release and hopefully gains the band the recognition they deserve.
Being the band's debut release, people always need a bit of references for encouragement, but there's no shame in namedropping fellow NYC noise-ancestors Helmet and Unsane. That urban, riff-heavy sound mixes with the physical, red-lined abrasiveness of The Stooges and Swans, and even further with the dirgy, LSD-tinged psychedelia of Sonic Youth and Spacemen 3. At their most violent, HAAN also stand in the same angry mob as -(16)- or even Deadguy.
"Sing Praises" was recorded by Andrew Schneider (Pigs, Unsane, Pelican, Shrinebuilder) and mastered by Carl Saff (Young Widows, Helms Alee, OFF!, Kowloon Walled City, Big Business).
