Hearty Har unveils their debut album RADIO ASTRO (BMG). To ring in the release, the band has shared the official video for album highlight “Fare Thee Well,” which debuted via Paste Magazine -- watch HERE.
The album arrives on a wave of praise from all corners of the media world -- Relix notes that “The brothers pull from a wide swath of influences on this project, from spaghetti westerns (“Fare Thee Well”) to Tom Petty (“Don’t Go Looking for Me”) to the idea that you need to find beauty as the tide changes (“Waves of Ecstasy”), proving their description as ‘part perfectionists and part mad scientists.’” American Songwriter praised the Fogertys, saying “It is decidedly different than CCR and unique to itself in many of the best ways.” Tower Records acknowledges that “the brothers, who are the sons of CCR's John Fogerty, have spent a number of years learning the craft of Producing and mixing in order to create their chosen soundscapes as authentically as possible.”
The 11-track RADIO ASTRO is the work of rockers who are seasoned beyond their years and live up to their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame lineage with a strand of that DNA they can truly call their own. The sons of Creedence Clearwater Revival mastermind John Fogerty have been working under the Hearty Har moniker since 2012, perfecting their crafts as songwriters and studio hands into a fully formed enterprise. RADIO ASTRO shows off the brothers' wide-ranging musicality; diversity while capturing an identifiable core sound from sibling chemistry. And plenty of hard work.
"We both really like to record and be in the studio," Tyler says. "We've spent a lot of time experimenting and honing and learning how to use everything. Our whole thing is 'Let's just make good-sounding records and songs." Shane adds that, "I feel like we're constantly chasing something new and something exciting, trying to find sounds and trying to expand what we've done so far and always trying to elevate it. I think that's the goal and what we're trying to follow."
With Tyler and Shane writing on their own, and two tracks composed together, the set kicks off in garage rock, lava lamp shimmer of "Radio Man" and over the course of the album Hearty Har runs a gamut from the psychedelic blues of "One For the Other" to the gritty, Stax-flavored soul of "Calling You Out," the Brit pop nods of "Don't Go Looking For Me" and "Get Down," touches of Middle Eastern in "Fare Thee Well" and a sprawling instrumental, "Canyon of the Banshee," that lets the group "kind of flex our muscles," according to Tyler.
Tyler and Shane acknowledge they've discarded more ideas than they've taken to completion over the years. The songs that meet those exacting standards share a timeless urgency; You can imagine hearing "Can't Keep Waiting" or "Don't Go Looking For Me" or "Get Down" or "Scream and Shout!" at Woodstock -- or Lollapalooza. And there's openness in many of the arrangements that would have many a remixer licking their chops over.
"I just hope people love it and appreciate it," Shane says. "I feel like the music speaks for itself, and when people hear it they'll understand."
