Out of The Comfort Zone - Ken Maiuri

Though many bands are fronted by singer-songwriters, if you describe a solo artist using those hyphenated words, a percentage of people tune out immediately, heads filled with dreary images of earnest guys with acoustic guitars. not their idea of a good musical time.
Matt Hebert is a longtime Valley singer-songwriter, but he takes that generic label and blasts it out of the water with his band Haunt's new album, "The Deep North." Hebert and company celebrate the release of the CD with a show at Pearl Street this Saturday night at 9p.m. The Hummingfield and Spouse will start off the night.
Hebert's no stranger to solo acoustic shows in front of quiet rooms, using his scratchy, lived-in voice to sing gently through sad verses and push punkishly through emotional choruses. but before his days with Haunt and alt-country area favorites Ware River Club, Hebert was a member of the crunching rock band Hoolapopper in the early 90s, and a little of that era's electric thunder and loud beauty makes a welcome return on "The Deep North."
It starts right with the leadoff track, "The Sea And The Soul." Distorted, forcefully strummed chords shimmer and warp like My Bloody Valentine or the early work if Lilys; the way the loud guitars of Hebert, Bob Hennessy and producer Jose Ayerve roar and mix, the result is almost psychedelic and orchestral. "I think (Hebert) wanted to try and make a big sounding record," says Ayerve, "and I was super excited about taking Haunt out of the normal comfort zone and trying to push some envelopes."
Ayerve admits that while some fans who got an early listen to the album-in-progress were really excited about the new zing, others wished for a simpler, acoustic-based - and more typical - sound. But the carefully sculpted finished album has hooked more than it's mystified. "I think we won over some of the previous hesitant listeners," the producer said.
"It's a challenging and rewarding record to listen to, and I'm a firm believer that it should be," says Ayerve, who thanks to his work with Winterpills, Dennis Crommett, Michael Merenda and his own band Spouse, has a respected reputation for creatively mixing together "lo-fi" distorted homemade textures with lush. crystalline sounds.
"Taking an artist like Hebert, with a very polished and clean-sounding back catalog and drastically reframing his sound was a big risk," he says. "This was our goal, and I believe we pulled it off."
"The Deep North" does a great job of letting Hebert's songs stay in the spotlight but supporting them with varied textures, taking advantage of every pop hook or guitar riff. "Sacred Time" has a driving rhythm section, a nervous, gibbering guitar solo with Dinosaur Jr. whammy action, and impassioned backing vocals that make the songs lyrical point ("This is sacred time/that we're livin' on/ so I'll tread on it oh so lightly/now") sound even more urgent.
and fans of Hebert's solo shows will find many of those songs here given new life, like the soothing, rolling rhythm that now propels the hopeful "You Are Loved."