Alive Naturalsound Records | Hacienda [Loud Is The Night]

ALIVE 0089 - Loud Is The Night CD

touring with Dr. Dog in September/October | more about Hacienda on the Rolling Stone site

There is something to get excited about in south-central Texas. In fact the buzz surrounding San Antonio's Hacienda may signal a rebirth of young rock n' roll -with emphasis on the "roll"- to the country's landscape. Formed by cousins Abraham Villanueva (piano/vocals) and Dante Schwebel (guitar/vocals), together with Abraham's brothers Jaime (drums/vocals) and Rene Villanueva (bass/vocals), this Mexican-American quartet blends a raw yet sophisticated style of pop music with harmonies reminiscent of the Beatles and Beach Boys. As fate would have it, a demo of 6 songs landed in the hands of Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, and the band's life was forever changed. Soon after they were opening for The Black Keys in Austin Texas, as well as for Dr. Dog, gaining some much needed exposure. Under Auerbach's watch, Hacienda would write and arrange more than twenty songs, sending him demos periodically in preparation for their debut album, ultimately recording in Dan's own studio in Akron, Ohio. In order to keep the integrity of the music, "Loud Is The Night" was largely captured live in the room with a helping hand from new friends Scott and Frank of Dr. Dog. With them they worked on existing vocal harmonies and created new ones, greatly embellishing the album. The result is a beautiful collection of songs played with integrity and soul to spare, and while the band is aware of its 60's influences, the music on "Loud is the Night" is far from derivative, and the finished product is modern pop music performed with genuineness and taste. Hacienda will be on the road with Dr. Dog in September and October 08.

photo by Sandy Carson

Hacienda is three Villanueva brothers, Abraham (keyboards, vocals), Rene (bass, vocals) and Jaime (drums, vocals) and cousin Dante Schwebel (guitar, vocals). The band's sound is a mixture of power pop and straight-up rock 'n' roll. It has a '60s vibe and an alt-rock groove and they go together well. - Jim Beal / San Antonio Express News
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Hacienda will be touring with Dr. Dog this September and October, which is fitting because if you like Dr. Dog (or the Beatles, The Beach Boys or The Band), you'll really love this band. It's nice to find a good band that compares well to a band(s) you already love, but generally you get a small taste and the rest doesn't follow through. Hacienda's new album Loud Is The Night satisfies from start to finish.

These four Mexican-Americans gave a demo to Black Keys' lead singer Dan Auerbach that "blew my fucking mind...I told everyone about them." One of the groups Auerbach told was the aforementioned Dr. Dog who also guest on the new album. Auerbach also then proceded to put his money where his mouth was and produced and engineered the entire album. You can really hear Dan's influence on Shake Ya. Baby Don't Go is a sweet Sonny Bono cover too. - MOKB
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Loud Is The Night is a roots-indierock extravaganza. Hacienda mine the territory where Los Lobos, Sir Douglas Quintet and the Beach Boys all co-mingle in blissed out 60's AM radio psych/garagerock fervor. - Some Velvet Blog
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It begins, like all great tales, having already begun. The fade-in of "Across the Great Divide," which opens the Band's 1969 self-titled sophomore effort, bridges from somewhere deep and distant before galloping into the joyous dirge of departure. True to the elusiveness of its name, the Band seemed an entity that was always already there.

The Band is an album sustained in the threads of leaving and returning, past and present, individual and collective. Its characters and narratives are uniquely timeless: Virgil Caine witnessing the plunder of Dixie; the drunkard's dream of Bessie up on Cripple Creek; Ragtime Willie pining for a Virginia rockin' chair from the sea. The album burns through Southern styles, from quivering ballad "Whispering Pines" to the honky-tonk stomp of "Look Out Cleveland" to the deep blues-funk of closer "King Harvest (Has Surely Come)."

As improbable as a largely Canadian group reinventing Americana, so too is the ebullient, soulful pop erupting from San Antonio-based quartet Hacienda. Formed by cousins Abraham Villanueva (piano/vocals) and Dante Schwebel (guitar) and Villanueva's younger brothers, Rene (bass) and Jaime (drums), Hacienda bends classic 1960s garage rhythms and swooning doo-wop with bursts of harmonies. - Doug Freeman / Austin Chronicle
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