The Hangmen

Described as an explosive live act with a track record spanning the USA, Canada and Russia via most European countries between many times over, the UK trio have straddled many ‘Psychobilly’ and ‘Punk’ circuits since the 1990s. A trail of unchartered sweaty rock dives form part of an ongoing legacy garnished with eight albums worth of original material released on a host of international independent record labels. Now back on Crazy Love Records for their ninth album release, the long awaited next chapter in dark Punk Rock n' Roll will soon be upon us.

The Hangmen are a genuine, pioneering, Garage Punk Rockabilly hybrid that throttles the definitive primitive ensemble of guitar, double bass and drums using self-penned compositions laced with convincing psychotic horror undertones, exhuming that unholy grail of Rock & Roll - a distinctive sound of their own. The Cramps, The Meteors, The Misfits, Motorhead, Reverend Horton Heat, The Sex Pistols, Tom Waits, Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster and Screaming Jay Hawkins – all comparisons and influences that collectively illustrate the difficulty in defining a band that ultimately defines itself as moody and frantic, post-punk outlaw rockers smoldering with real energy.

Accepting non-mainstream appeal with defiance then throwing away the comfort blanket of ‘scene’ agendas has earned the band a notoriety for no-nonsense independence. Willing to face new and alienated audiences alone The Hangmen have become synonymous with not following any packs and earning a cult fanbase drawn from many factions.

Becoming choice UK support to many original Punk bands including The Damned, UK Subs and The Anti-Nowhere League along with established early Psychobilly acts such as The Meteors, Guana Batz and King Kurt, The Hangmen progressed into larger venue circuits with larger audiences. This was maintained through more tour supports to visiting overseas bands such as Tiger Army and The Nekromantix, and not least a personal invitation to be main headliners for The London Astorias exclusive booking of all-star US Punk band The Transplants. As a headline act The Hangmen have topped tours, gigs and festivals right across the Northern hemisphere in places great and small.

The first national headlining tour promoting the third album ‘Tested On Animals’ would eventually enable the band to lay claim to having played ‘both Bostons on Halloween’. The following year saw The Hangmen tour in the USA for the first time, placing the band among the first British Psychobilly acts to precede and kickstart the resurgence of todays worldwide Psychobilly movement there.

As further ambassadors The Hangmen were the only British Psychobilly band to play the legendary New York Punk venue CBGBs, and the first to tour Canada coast to coast (attracting the national music press accolade of ‘Live Pick Of The Week’). They were also the first of very few Psychobilly bands to be personally invited by the founder of the genre P. Paul Fenech (The Meteors) to record at his own In Heaven Studio, one of the sessions being recorded for prosperity by a New York film crew.

Right now, with fresh material continually invading the live set which will ultimately appear on the next studio album, The Hangmen are doing what they always did – re-arming themselves to shake our senses, rock our bones and deliver us all to evil.