4 out of 5

Label: Surplus Anxiety Records

Produced by: Todd Doehring

Poking around the 90s indie rock scene, Karl Hendricks’ prolific output gave us a lot of material that was always on the verge of breaking through to a higher profile reception, touring with plenty of like-minded ramblers and making it on to Merge for a couple of releases… but never quite becoming a household name, except in the “if ya know, ya know” crowd. The two songs on this release (credited to The Karl Hendricks Rock Band) are a pretty good summary of the intense highs of which the artist was capable, but also some hints of what held him back.

Both Thank God We Have Limes and B-side’s Say Hi To The Girls hit hard with pleasant guitar hooks, Hendrick’s earnest, common-man vocals, and thick bass and drums, keeping things ever-moving with some solid breakdowns and solos. It’s early era Silkworm but slightly de-punked; there’s some Pavement jangle but it’s much heavier than that. In other words, guitar rock of the time runs strong with Karl, but it’s slightly to the left or right of being more accessible, while also somehow being totally catchy. The lyrics here are good – balancing confessional relationship woes with concise, contemplative imagery – and the production rips. It’s enough to make you wonder: why wasn’t Hendricks a bigger name?

…I’d suggest that when you play this stuff at length, the stylistic skewing and the fact that the music rarely halts its momentum piles up; these songs are about the same length and same pace, and that gets lost when you go to 10 or 12 tunes. But on a single? You listen to it again and again, trying to nail it down, and singing along the whole time. These can be some of the most powerful rock n’ roll tunes you’ve heard.