The new Hard Feelings album is here to save us all! This is the record America so desperately needs.

The Hard Feelings hail from Austin, Texas and are the brainchild of John Schooley, with Trey Robles (drums) and Mike Poppit (bass) held captive. Schooley previously led the Revelators, a savage, grimy and meaty guit/drum blues punk combo who recorded a pair of albums for Crypt. The Hard Feelings rose from the Revelators demise, releasing their debut "Fought Back & Lost" (Sympathy, 1999) quickly followed by their first album for Beerland/Dropkick, "You Won't Like It…'Cuz It's Rock n' Roll!" in 2000. Remember, these were the heady days before rock n' roll (or some preening, toothless version thereof) made its way to the front pages of fad-hawking Limey fish-wrappers. The first pressing of “You Won’t Like It…” sold out with little press coverage or promotion. By the time David Fricke reviewed it in Rolling Stone it was already gone.

"Rebels Against The Future" takes its title from a book by Kirkpatrick Sale about the English war on the Industrial Revolution in the early 1800’s - the fierce and short lived Luddite rebellion. The helplessness and ultimate futility of playing stripped back, no-frills rock n' roll gives Schooley and co. the same feeling of fighting cannons with slingshots. Thankfully for us this desperation and recklessness fire up every song, and their outmoded weapons of choice -- cheap guitars and beat-up valve amps -- are chunky and fulla nasty fuzz. Make no mistake: the Hard Feelings are a rock n’ roll band, trendy terms like “nu-blues”, “garage”, etc. fit them not at all.

Highlights include the raging opener "The American Way Of Dying"; the Booker-T styled instrumental written for their fave local watering hole, "Beerland Breakdown" and an outta-control cover of Joe Tex's "You Said A Bad Word". And above all the amazing title cut, which should become a modern anthem for the dispossessed everywhere, be they alienated rockers or WTO protestors. Added spices include female backing vocals, and piano courtesy of Earle Poole Ball (Johnny Cash's touring and recording tinkler of choice, also renowned for his work on the Byrd’s “Sweetheart of the Rodeo”). Telecaster master Redd Volkaert (longtime Merle Haggard sideman, with a couple solo albums of his own) also lays down some over the top chicken-pickin’ and trucker country licks, which fit just fine in the Hard Feelings rock n’ roll slag heap. Production was handled by Mike Mariconda (of New Bomb Turks and Devil Dogs production fame) who had 'em in and outta the studio in a day! The new Hard Feelings album is here to save us all! This is the record America so desperately needs.