Label: Asthmatic Kitty

Release Date: Feb. 2005

Band site: halfhandedcloud.com

Half Handed Cloud - Thy Is A Word + Feet Need Lamps
Matthew Ralph

Though this is only his third record, John Ringhofer is quickly becoming a cult hero who generations from now will be rediscovered and remembered for his genius much the way John himself uncovers strange and obscure music from the past.

Unashamedly praised on this site for both his spirited live performances - complete with felt board and windup sheep toys - and his first two full-lengths, Ringhofer and his Half Handed Cloud project continues to push all the rigth buttons on "Thy Is A Word + Feet Need Lamps."

It's impossible to listen to Half-Handed Cloud and not smile happily as he rushes through short quirky but catchy number after another. Drawing straight from the Bible narrative, Ringhofer cleverly crafts narrative lyrics drawing from Old Testament passages.

Plenty of songwriters have borrowed heavily from the Bible over the years for inspiration in song both of distinct religious nature and otherwise, but few read their Bible the way Ringhofer does. Clever and witty without poking fun, Ringhofer sings non-chalantly about circumcision, tent pegs going through heads, bread cooked over human manure, meat coming out of nostrils, animals cut in two, fathers caught naked in tents and a host of other Biblically inspired oddities.

Rooted in '60s pop influences, the hook-filled songs build around sugary melodies and sing-along choruses crafted with a host of instruments that would require a small army to perform live.

Though songs under a minute have become the Half-Handed Cloud trademark, the album does feature some of the longer HHC songs to date with six songs clocking over two minutes and one epic song more than four minutes long.

Whether it's long or short, recorded or live, Half-Handed Cloud is a legend in our time who should be marveled and enjoyed for the incredibly unique vision of the project's mastermind and the kind of creativity only unapologetic faith in a higher being could produce.

posted [04.18.05]

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