Exclusive Song Premiere: Hello Caller's "Manhunt"

Austin’s Hello Caller claims the mantle of “dark folk” and “jangle rock.” But the band’s new single, “Manhunt”—available as a 7”, 70g single from Violent Films Records—defies easy folk stereotypes. Though it certainly jangles, it has lush production and hints of western stomp.

“As far as the music is concerned,” said singer/guitar player Brian Ferguson, “it’s clearly connected with the sort of ‘Johnny Cash’ vibe and outlaw nature. But I like to think of it as ‘edgy folk,’ with a spark of intensity, so to speak. I like things that have a somewhat spooky or mysterious vibe, creating a question in the listener that somehow answers itself upon further listening. It’s always a game that should be subtly revealing its own answer.”

That’s a cerebral way of framing a song, but “Manhunt”—with lyrics that tell a cat-and-mouse story of a man on the run—is an appropriate song to talk about in terms of questions, games, and subtle revelations.