Gifted a silver touch and legitimate swagger, the Happen-Ins build on their derivation of R&B-fueled rock & roll with Glamour Shots, the Austin quartet’s second long-player. “Same Mistakes” dusts off scarves and leather jeans in True Believers mode, all melodic riffs and glam energy, and “Gap” pumps up soulful balladry on a brash guitar attack. Bookends, opener “Truth” polishes a roiling blues grind, while the penultimate “Caged Beast” perfects snotty dub & roll. In between, singer/guitarists Sean Faires and Ricky Ray Jackson never settle for simple Glimmer Twins knockoffs, not when they can add Big Star harmonies to “Pillow Talk,” hard rock muscle to “Ruby Red Lips,” and a psychedelic slink to “You Know I’m Right.” Slashes in their axes, slurry swivel to their hips, the Happen-Ins remain ragged but right.
This article appears in May 22 • 2015.
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Michael Toland started writing about music in 1988 on the Gulf Coast, moved to Austin in early 1991, and has inflicted bylines upon the corporeal and digital pages of Pop Culture Press, The Big Takeover, Blurt, Amplifier, Austin.citysearch, the Austin American Statesman, Goldmine, Sleazegrinder, Rock & Roll Globe, High Bias, FHT Music Notes, and, since 2011, The Austin Chronicle.
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