With a "Bible in one hand, broken bottle in the other" (Spin June '09) Ha Ha Tonka return with their sophomore effort on Bloodshot Records, Novel Sounds of the Nouveau South. The album takes listeners on a complex tour of the South?through lynchings and mob violence, sacrifice and reconciliation. It?s dense subject matter for any artist, but delivered beautifully on this record by these native sons of the Ozarks in southern Missouri. Named after an Ozarks state park, the band has earned comparisons to Kings of Leon, Old 97s and Fleet Foxes. Rolling Stone raves that Ha Ha Tonka "occupy the sweet spot between country and indie, writing ornery songs with big hooks."
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From Wikipedia:Ha Ha Tonka is a band originally formed in Springfield, Missouri and currently signed to Bloodshot Records out of Chicago, Illinois. Their music is steeped in Ozark folk, bringing the passion, spirituality, hardships, and roots of the people that lived and still live their today, into their sound. Americana is the soil their roots are firmly planted, but their branches reach out to a number of genres from Southern Rock, Indie Rock, Bluegrass, Folk, Country, and a style their fans like to call Foot Stompin' Indie-Rock. "The band wraps gorgeous rural images and literary allusions within heartbreaking 4-part harmonies. Sometimes the sounds are soft and respectful and at others raw and wrath-filled. The music is honest and organic, intentional yet intuitive."