V/A – Hen House Studios Anthology 4 – 2004 / 2004 Stonemountain / 14 Tracks / http://www.henhousestudios.com / Reviewed 23 February 2005

Hen House Studios has a really good thing going. The studio records bands for free ,provided the band lets the studio film them. What is even better is that Hen House is actually a good recording studios, at almost a professional level. Some minor fuzz persists on the edges of the tracks, but this is extraordinarily minor for a free service. This fourth anthology starts out with indie-rockers Fan Fiction, which navigate the waters between Lifehouse and Soundgarden. The ska espoused by Boom Shaka in their “International Diplomat” is a carbon copy of the second-wave ska that was all the rage in the late seventies and early eighties, but has none of the aural setbacks that marred most of the ska from that period, especially the stuff that did not come from quality studios. However, the disc stutters to a halt with Sonja Marie’s painful slam poetry-esque “I Am...Life”, which is the epitome of everything pretentious and bad about what used to be the beautiful written word. The backing beat and congas laid down by Harlan Steinberger (which is surprising, since the mastering and mixing of the tracks are done to a masterful degree everywhere else by eir) are the most artificial and contrived part of the track, which provides a jarring division between the organic and mechanic.

However, one of the best tracks on “Anthology 4” immediately follows the train wreck that is “I Am...Life”, in Asian Fetish Brigade’s “Lotus Blossom”. The track takes the strong female archetype from country and the pop-rock of a Letters to Cleo to create an immediately catchy and memorable song. Where Ethan Livermore contributes nothing beneficial to the disc, Badfish’s more sedate brand of ska is perfectly captured by Henhouse Studios, and the track itself, “Just Hope”, mixes the laid-back nature of California with the ever-present bass of Drew Corradini. A Dave Matthews clone comes onto the scene with Cattywompus, even down to the slightly-nasal vocals of lead singer Jonathan and the inoffensive (one could say bland) instrumentation found on the track.

Hen House has everything down in terms of public service and their ability to create a rich and lush sound that makes the band stand on their own, instead of forcing them into an avenue they don’t wish to be in. Even more than recording the music of a host of local bands in their area, they capture bands in their natural form (in their footage), and put out discs that will provide publicity. Is there anything hat Hen House does not do?

Top Tracks: Nikki Hong’s “Stay Awhile”, Boom Shaka’s “International Diplomat”

Rating: 6.6/10