You'll get along just fine with Brendan Hangauer. The frontman of Lawrence, Kan., septet Fourth of July, Hangauer knows what it's like to be an under-30, hopelessly romantic Midwestern kid who likes to party and address last night's regrets in fleet verses and big, grinning choruses lined with rock'n'roll guitars and handclap rhythms. After all, Hangauer is an under-30 white kid from the Midwest, and so-- on Fourth of July's endearing debut, Fourth of July on the Plains-- that's exactly how he writes, sings and arranges. Even if you don't identify with his demographic or his particular plight-- trying to balance a long-distance romance and his own vices-- you'll likely understand the feelings they bring.
Hangauer's not a brainy writer, or at least that's what he wants you to think. He's fine settling for plainspoken aphorisms ("Goodbye's a hard word to use" and "Love can make you do some crazy things") and lazy end rhyme ("Do I still want her? Now that I'm free/ Like a tree/ And my roots so deep"), writing afternoon-after songs about getting way too drunk and trying not to fall in love with girls he shouldn't go home with. Instead, he watches movies where the characters look like her and himself or locks himself in his house and drinks until he calls her in France and says stupid things. Maybe you've been this person?
His band's not brilliant, either: The drums are simple, steadfast rock beats; the bass lines are roots and steps; horns slice in and above the best anthems; the guitars are, at their most effective, simple and predictable. When they're not, they sound uncomfortable, like an inexperienced Nels Cline twisting his way through Kicking Television without the tempering experience of Geraldine Fibbers. It's not a look Fourth of July wears well, so-- luckily-- they generally forego it. Rather, they do comfortable empathy the best, but they get away with twisting a lot of kinks into such simplicity. These are smartly arranged songs with multiple points of entry, fitting for a guy like Hangauer, who writes with ingenious wit and charm. Like, in "Surfer Dude", he imagines tracking his paramour to France, and finding her there, about to cheat. "I watch him help you with your French/ As the season skips the spring." There's the wink. "And he whispers he can teach you how to surf." The nod. "And I yell, 'I know what that means.'" And there's the massive headshake of anxiety. You know what he means, too, right?
Some will lament that Fourth of July isn't as good as the Weakerthans, and they'll be completely right. As a band, the Weakerthans-- sharp, expert, taut-- tried things Fourth of July doesn't even aspire to with On the Plains. And, lyrically, Weakerthans' frontman John K. Samson flexed smarts Hangauer would say he doesn't even have (he'd be lying?). When Samson needed to excuse himself from an awkward social encounter on Reconstruction Site, he explained his dogs needed to be fed before noting that his acquaintance looked like early 20th century explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton. Then things got interesting. When Hangauer's agitated, he drinks, picks up the phone, or thinks about making love.
But it is worth noting that Hangauer gets something right that Samson-- unlike many of his sloppier peers-- nails, too. Like a keen, imaginative novelist or a fastidious journalist, Samson drops tiny narrative details in his best songs like signposts-- batteries stolen from fire alarms, darker grays breaking through lighter ones, the sight of nervous hands in tense conversations. Similarly, Hangauer is obsessed with weather and memories. He notes that he was only half a mile from his house when he made the decision to drink with strangers instead of make out with his girlfriend, and, when he professes that the telephone makes him feel less alone during "She's in Love", you listen to Hangauer apologize to her in France. "Your dreams, they are more important than us," he sings, trapped in the melody and lying through his teeth. He's the same guy that notes the sun shines for her when she walks down the street or says that he can't cheat and claims that he'll help her move to New York when she's ready. Indeed, this Hangauer is a good guy. You'll get along just fine.
