When I watched ‘Examined Life’ directed by Astra Taylor, a philosophical documentary posing fundamental questions to contemporary world famous thinkers, Cornel West’s musings on music & philosophy stood out to me:

…for me music is central…Plato was talking primarily about words as I talk about notes, I talk about tone, I talk about timbre, I talk about rhythms. See for me, music is fundamental–philosophy needs to go to school not only with the poets but also with the musicians…

In my opinion, there is not a 21st century American band who makes albums as philosophically indomitable as Have a Nice Life’s Deathconsciousness or The Unnatural World. Broadcast (RIP Trish Keenan) is a close second. But seriously, Have a Nice Life has a famous painting of the Jacobin journalist Jean Paul Marat on the cover of Deathconsciousness. The second song off that record, “Bloodhail,” drops into existential bliss of entangled harmonies of “Arrowheads & Arrowheads” to be tied together at the end of the lucid, yet meticulous song with a shattering chorus: “And it lasts as long as it possibly can.”

The hooks & aesthetic lurk in the crevices of my mind–I cannot shake them.

While I will spend much of this piece in HANL’s defense, their live show sounded like unseasoned garbage in the Middle East upstairs. Or as the band describes of the show via the Legrand Society:

‘It was certainly uneven in parts. I am perpetually incapable of watching or listening to myself perform without cringing. There were bits of the mix that sounded good on stage that seem off in the video. BUT. It was certainly the best set we’ve played, and the experience live was very intense. I really couldn’t be happier.’

            (The Live Video is at the bottom of the page)  

Cringe is right. Walls of indistinguishable sound and shoddy quality choked the translation of their music.

The band’s label’s slogan ‘No Fun. Not Ever. Since 2003.’ brings a human roundness to HANL & with their brash homemade mentality, and I can’t help but cheer for them to be more successful. For me, this is an unforgettable album of a changing era as artists seek to satisfy different appeals.

HANL music’s power is transformative, taking on moods of its own within its atypical structure; yet their stage presence presented boundaries their music does not have to abide by. The lyrics as well as the structure of the music, the immense distortion, droning ballads, and intricacies hidden beneath multiple layers of sound have not only built a cult following, but also makes a firm foundation for newer artists to garner their feelings of nostalgia of their growing youth.

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The band’s strength is evident in their aptly named album ‘Deathconsciousness’ which hints at the commodification of death in America: Goth culture, Sad Boys, Robert Smith and Morrissey records, and every Hot Topic and Urban Outfitters ever. Within the established separation of the self and death on a consumer level, Have a Nice Life shakes the foundations of our current musical history in a part ambient, part shoe-gaze, part post punk but always euphoric tone. Perhaps it comes as no surprise that for 150 of the 200 people in attendance, having the leisure time only on the weekends to ponder their basic instincts caught in American culture is the explanation we need for the reflection of the live performance and their appeal value.

“I don’t want to live like this any more / I don’t want to live at all / I don’t want to be this face anymore.” Have we struck such a groundless emotional level that the utterances of the most vulnerable despair are viewed as high art? Well yes, if that what it takes for the audience to understand that music, like philosophy and science, is important and an often overlooked part of human nature, yet one rich with meaning.

A comforting fact, however, was the humility and graciousness from the band, awestruck as to how far their career has come. Tim Macuga and Dan Barrett, the core of the group, have honed their lo-fi sound while supporting other artists such as Frustrator and Giles Corey through their label, Enemies List Home Recording; check these artists out because they have similar sonic and emotional sensibilities to the forbearers of HANL’s grim, yet actuarial account of human suffering.  HANL will also be touring the area more and more, so watch for and support this hidden gem of the Massachusetts & northeast scene.

Chris Hughes can be reached via email at [email protected], or follow him via twitter; @wreakarts.