Olympia, WA is home to The Old Haunts, a garage act in every sense. Their third full length, Poisonous Times (Kill Rock Stars) is very much a standard of garage rock with punk sensibilities and anger. The changing world around Old Haunts singer and songwriter Craig Extine led to an album full of discomfort and difficult realities.
Speaking from his home in Olympia, Extine is surrounded by constant change that is hard to grasp. “Everyday life is something you can’t escape,” he says, referring to the stale commercial direction many small towns are forced to take on to survive. With big box stores and corporate wealth ruining simple neighborhoods, it’s no wonder that Extine and company find themselves shaking their collective heads.
Poisonous Times was recorded in an Olympia warehouse space over ten days. It is the first album with drummer Tobi Vail, notably from fellow Kill Rock Stars act Bikini Kill and the Go Team. Extine, Vail and bassist Scott Seckington worked quickly. Extine calls the experience unique. “It’s a different group of people, so inevitably the new record is different,” says Extine. “I’m very lucky to meet these amazing musicians.”
Poisonous Times is an album inspired by everything, big and small. “It’s all related, integrated. So many different people have crossed my path. Everyone is unique.” That makes the homogenization of the culture so maddening to Extine.
The album is a congruent thread of social and political awareness new to Old Haunts. Poisonous Times is a brazen, raw record. The garage and lo-fi aesthetics aside, Extine wails and warbles through songs like “Hung Up on the Upside” and “Hurricane Eyes” sounding less like White Stripes and more like Television. A combination of thumping beats and Extine’s scream dominate tracks like “Sister City” while slower contemplative tunes, especially the acoustic “In Revolt” hold the band’s energy in the right place.
Old Haunts do not reinvent the wheel. Instead the album is a statement of everyday life and the drama therein. Throughout Extine never loses focus of the day to day aspect. On closer “Dressed as Thieves” Extine sings of “young wolves like me, taken to luxury,” knowing too well that he is no innocent. Fortunately, the tone of the album never becomes apathetic. There is still beauty in the world, and at the end of album highlight “Sunshine,” Extine concedes, “When the sun shines through my curtains it makes me feel certain everything is all right.” In these times, that may be the most we can hope for.
-Charlie Swanson
Old Haunts: www.oldhaunts.com
MySpace: www.myspace.com/theoldhaunts