In addition to contributing his own brand of Southern grit to indie rock collective Dead Confederate and lo-fi glitz to side project Diamond Rugs, T. Hardy Morris has been busy crafting a solo catalog. Hardy & the Hardknocks: “Drownin’ On a Mountaintop” represents his most recent work to date. Backed by the aptly named Hardknocks, Athens, Georgia-based Morris delivers a collection that includes slow-simmering, cinematic ballads (“Just Like the Movies”) as well as ramshackle CBGB-era rockers (“My Me”) and Dixie-fried garage tunes (“Starting Gun”). Here, Morris conjures sonic visions of Marc Bolan fronting the Flying Burrito Brothers. Drownin’ On a Mountaintop explores how it feels to be an “old soul” trapped in a society obsessed with youth (“Young Assumption”). Mountaintop is alternately a Saturday night party record and a Sunday morning dirge
The Fat Angel Sings 