After a year and a half, local heros Hands and Knees are finally back with a new recording, and damn was it worth the wait. For those that don’t know, Hands and Knees are one of the tightest, most unpretentious and downright fun bands tearin’ it up in Cambridge right now, and their new cassette, Red Hot Minnow, hits all the right notes. Fans of the pristine folksy pop groove that permeated their previous effort, 2011’s Wholesome, will note the sonic shift in their new album. Recorded entirely on an 8-track tape, Minnow has the band sounding quite a bit gruffer, like there’s a bunch of earthy stones rolling around deep in their bellies, churning up all that loose folksy pop twang into a swirly mess of reverberated riffs and scrambled drums. But this is no sloppy lo-fi affair swallowed up in itself, no these tracks jump out at you, punching skyward with the raw urgency of a band clearly experienced with energizing their audience. Its not all rough and tumble – there are softer, slower bluesy tracks to mellow to, but regardless of the tempo, the vigor of this band is clear and present in every fuzzy, exuberent second of this excellent tape. Blog/promoter/label Primordial Sounds is releasing the tape in an initial edition of 100. You can order yours online here, or better yet, purchase it in person at their record release show TOMORROW at TT the Bears in Cambridge. Musical brethren Happy Jawbone Family Band and Fedavees will be lending their support, so if you’re around, come down and see what the fuss is all about.