Build. Destory. Rebuild – Hanni El Khatib (Free Download / Buy)
Taking doo-wop soul and forcing it through a tube amp, Hanni El Khatib’s (@hannielkhatib) self-produced debut LP, Will The Guns Come Out, feels like the product of a renegade malt shop. Though joined by a drummer and occasionally a bassist when playing live, Khatib is the sole songwriter, performer, and producer for his music. His stand-out track “Dead Wrong” is pure garage gold, mining a sound somewhere between The Black Keys and the Grease soundtrack. Kicking off with retro-twitchy drums and Khatib’s punch-drunk vocals, “Dead Wrong” is instantly likable and takes you back about 50 years. Also, doesn’t he kinda look like Danny Zuko?
Khatib’s brilliant garage blues cover of 30s era jazz song “You Rascal You” feels like Cab Calloway went on a bender with a biker gang. Khatib’s vocals are full of cool vengeance with a fuzzed-out guitar crunch to match. “Build. Destroy. Rebuild” has a Ramones bopability, and Khatib’s manic vocals wail with teenage abandon behind a haze of cymbals and guitar. With freak-out guitar solos and gang vocals, Khatib has crafted an anthem for the lo-fi nation; a call to arms for the return of rock and roll to its roots.
Khatib, a skater with a punk “leave the mistakes in” philosophy, is crafting rock songs with the kind of sneer and swagger that mohawk kids will dig. In an indie music world where the scene is saturated in folk or electronica-leaning bands, Khatib’s sound creates an unpolished dirty beauty that shouts with truth. Striving to write songs for “anyone who’s ever been shot or hit by a train”, Khatib’s attitude is his greatest attribute. A lurking skate-rat in his youth, Khatib’s penchant for mischief comes out in his rebel-cry lyrics and blistering guitar fuzz, capturing audiences across the nation.
Making a name for himself as he supports Florence + The Machine on the current US tour, Khatib is also set to play at the Bonnaroo this summer in Tennessee. Already beginning to amass a large following, the future looks bright for Hanni El Khatib. When the electronic and folk craze has subsided, Khatib will be at the crest of indie rock’s next wave: dirty blues-rock records that kids in the 50s would have to hide from their mothers. Lurk on, Khatib. We’re with you.
