Sunburned Hand of the Man

Wednesday, May 10, at Rudyard's, 2010 Waugh Drive, 713-521-0521

A A A Comments By Travis Ritter Thursday, May 4 2006

After Sunburned Hand of the Man graced the cover of The Wire's "New Weird America" issue two years ago, the loose collective of Boston-based musicians-cum-hirsute freaks has become one of the shining acts on the experimental, eccentric Eclipse Records roster. Ever since the label released Sunburned's debut four years ago, the band has proved that a series of earthy sonic scopes, kling-klang instrumentation, jagged cutups, cathartic chanting and rambling blabber can be marketable. A great example of this can (or can't) be found on 2003's The Trickle Down Theory of Lord Knows What and the sold-out No Magic Man, which was released last year on Arthur magazine's Bastet imprint.

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The high-demand-in-limited-numbers releases have been part of the psych-freak-folk band's outlook on recorded music since founding members Rob Thomas, John Moloney and Rich Pontius got together in 1993. On top of their catalog of professionally pressed CDs and LPs, which can be found on Eclipse and Spirit of Orr, the band has self-released dozens of limited-edition CD-R recordings, some of which collectors are dropping 50 bones to get their hands on. Even more intriguing is the places where the band commits its music to tape. The most recent double LP Wedlock was recorded in the Alaskan wilderness, while past albums have been recorded in uncharacteristic spaces, including the top of a flight of stairs, creating a unique sound and vision in each and every recording.

While the recorded material is not an easy task to translate live, this week's show at Rudz is a rare chance to catch Sunburned in their most primal and chaotic, exploring sonic depths with shrills of discordance. Best of all, there will be a merch table stocked with the band's latest experimental adventures. Get 'em while they're still cheap.

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