Pine Hill Haints

During college, I saw bands like Pine Hill Haints damn near every week. Something about Austin attracts swampy, podunk acoustic acts, the kinds of swill pots that mix bluegrass, country and even punk into a sonic brew with enough bite and aftertaste to scare your Aunt Mae half to death. These former skater punks from Alabama pull off the rural, harmonica-ready sound masterfully by sounding nothing like masters--it's a wonderful cross somewhere between the Pogues and Split Lip Rayfield. Yes, that's a wide divide, but the group traverses it with quite a bit of range. Former Lift to Experience drummer Andy Young opens with his new band, Lomita.