Excl. Download: New Ha Ha Tonka MP3

"Usual Suspects" comes from new album Death of a Decade, out next week on Bloodshot.

By Blurt Staff

We're pretty chuffed to be able to serve up a new helpin' of Missouri's Ha Ha Tonka at BLURT today. The sweet-twanging, southern-rocking combo's latest Bloodshot album drops April 5, and you can nab the first single "Usual Suspects" below as a teaser - and sonic proof that they just get better and better with each passing year.

Usual Suspects by Ha Ha Tonka by Bloodshot Records

Death of a Decade is the culmination of years of hard work for this Ozark quartet, who first appeared on the scene a decade ago as Amsterband. By 2007 they had changed the name to Ha Ha Tonka and wowed us with their HHT debut Buckle in the Bible Belt. They matured on 2009's Novel Sounds of the Nouveau South, and without a doubt, take their stand as one of the best young bands in the US on this LP. And as with previous releases, the band marries authentic Southern songs with modern edges on Death of a Decade, without ever coming across as gimmicky.

The album was recorded in a 200-year-old old barn in New Paltz, NY with producer Kevin McMahon (Titus Andronicus, The Felice Brothers, The Walkmen), who made sure to capture the barn's aural imperfections in creaking floorboards, and then mixed in Kansas City, MO by The Ryantist, who manipulated synthetic, sonic threads into this organic tapestry. The sound of Death of a Decade is where authentic meets modern, acoustic meets electronic, and tradition meets innovation.