The Rich Hands

Get an earful of any odd moment off the Rich Hands’ rollicking second record Out of My Head (a co-release between the equally-phenomenal Burger and Fountain Records) and you might shorthand the band’s primary reference point as Mick & Keith circa Sticky Fingers/Exile. So it’s surprising to hear frontman and principle songwriter Cody Mauser wax ecstatically not about the Stones’ deep-fried, hip-swiveling blues riffs, but about those other icons of ’60s rock and roll: “We all share a bond over the Beatles,” he says of he and bandmates Matt Gonzalex and Nick Ivarra. “I like basically anything George Harrison did. He’s my favorite Beatle. All Things Must Pass? That record is so good. I don’t know if it had a huge following when it came out, but I love that record.”

A closer listen to Out of My Head betrays that fondness for melody: the roaring “Teenager” could be a distant, unshaven, slightly drunker cousin to “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”; “Other Boys” has the same bright-eyed bounce as, say, “All My Lovin’,” but the Rich Hands filters that easy tunefulness through in-the-red amps and piles of distortion. And buried beneath all that fuzz is genuine songcraft. “The last track on the record, ‘I Get By’ — there’s actually some very subtle guitar work on there,” Mauser says. “There’s stuff I did on there that I’m really proud of. The songs are getting longer. I listen to them now, and Instead of writing these choppy, garage-punk songs, I think, ‘Oh, cool, I’m growing! It’s happening, and I didn’t even know it.”

And while Out of My Head won’t be released until next Tuesday, Mauser already has plans for the next record. “I wanna make a record where we have time to really mess with stuff,” he says. “I wanna have some acoustic tracks, some slower stuff. It sounds stupid, but I really want the next record to be ‘mature.’” From the sound of Out of My Head, he’s already got a running start.

[The Rich Hands' Out of My Head will be released by Fountain and Burger Records on May 6] - J. Edward Keyes

The idea that rock ‘n’ roll is a young man’s game is a little antiquated at this point; lots of middle-aged punks and sneerers embody the spirit of rock well past the primes their bodies and attitudes may prefer. The expression, maybe, stems more from the sources of the angst, the longing, the unabashed lunging for all life’s low-hanging fruit having more in common with the idealism inherent in our younger years. If there’s any kind of truth to the saying, then San Antonio power-punk trio The Rich Hands are one of the better progenitors of bottling the lightning-bolt logic of adolescence.

Out of My Head storms out of the gate with the power-pop anthem “All Over Me,” lead by the crunchy ax-work of vocalist/guitarist Cody Mauser, whose scrappy yelp facilitates shivers of soulful rock ‘n’ roll salutations. The band’s clearly been weaned on the sort of driving, balls-out rock of the mid-’70s and early ‘80s, eschewing flash for astute devotion to the sonic antics of bands like T. Rex and The Replacements and allowing the song itself to do the strutting.

The Rich Hands succeed in embracing and delivering with the expansive options afforded them via their stint at Detroit’s High Bias Studios; producer Chris Koltay (Atlas Sound, Xiu Xiu, Tyvek) encouraged the band to branch out with new gear for new sounds and inspirations, giving the album an undeniably fun sheen. Infectious odes to adolescence (“Teenager”) and love (“Love Struck,” “I Want You,” “Ballroom Love”) arrive dripping with pre-pubescent pomp and grinding, choppy guitar patterns. It’s a well-worn blueprint, but one earnest enough that forgiveness is in order should you find yourself humming along to progressions that have likely been written many times over.

Rich Hands switch gears with the organ-pocked slow-burner “No Harm Blues,” with Mauser’s squeaky voice meandering slur-worthy over a three-chord opus of promise to, well, not do someone harm. It’s the type of song that Joey Ramone all but copyrighted, but again, faulting a songwriter for paying homage to the wellsprings of their youth is a dubious battle. - Ryan Prado

This newbie San Antonio trio has used their debut album to up the crunchy riffs and down most other inclinations beyond getting the six pack to the house party. Girls are desired, rejections are quickly forgotten, money is blown on quick good times and ‘50s sock hop melodies are the stuff of hangover cures. Head-bobbers like Teenager have the Rich Hands fitting on Burger Records like a kid glove, but luckily they take those gloves off sometimes. Speedier tempos and scrunchy, not always reverbed guitars shove them a bit out of the increasingly cutesy end of Burger. Home, smack dab in the middle of the album, brings it all together, and its image of the singer waiting at home, probably on a dilapidated porch couch, pining his gal to come back is an apt image. - Eric Davidson

When the Rich Hands snagged the title of “Most Underrated Band” in the Current’s 2012 Music Awards, they seemed like the type of act the category was invented for: young, talented and with a handful of excellent singles that promised a lot of potential.

So where are they a year (and a half) down the line? Obviously a long way from underrated, having scored five wins at this year’s San Antonio Music Awards, including Best Indie Rock Band, Best Album (Dreamers, their debut, distributed through Burger Records) and, ridiculously enough, Most Underrated, hopefully for the last time.

It doesn’t take polls to gauge how big a year it’s been for the Rich Hands, one in which they released a debut album, went from a four-piece to a trio, and set forth on a seventh national tour (maybe eighth, they can’t really remember.) And the three-piece—consisting of Cody Mauser on guitar and vocals, Matt González on bass, and Nick Ivarra on drums—seem to have no concept of slowing down.

“Everything that came along this year was really exciting,” said Ivarra, speaking on the road en route to Denver. “We signed to Fountain Records, who put out Dreamers. We’ll start recording a new album this November to have out by next year, and hopefully by next summer have a European tour in the works.”

Not bad for a group of high school buddies who got together just to play music for their friends—certainly not shabby considering the not-so-small issue of losing their bassist mid-way through last year.

“When we first played as a three-piece it was a last minute thing,” says Ivarra. “We even tried finding a temp bass player to go on tour, but it was just too much of a hassle to get the practice in, figure out the scheduling with someone new and all that. So we just went with it.”

Beyond the obvious rearrangement—González took over on bass and occasional second guitar duties—the band saw the lineup change as a chance to rework their sound.

“The direction we were going in the beginning, when we were a four-piece, was a lot different,” says Mauser. “Now we just want to create simple structure songs, and cut out some of the crazier guitar soloing and interplay of the early stuff. It sounds dumb, but one of the hardest things to do is to keep things simple.”

Though the scuzzy garage jamming of their early singles still lingers in this updated approach, it’s this retooled Buddy Holly-meets-Black Lips sound that anchors much of Dreamers, the Rich Hands’ 10-track full length released in June.

“We didn’t go into the studio looking to write a power pop single, or to specifically write bubble-gum Ramones stuff,” Ivarra said. “We just evolve, our ears evolve, and playing with each other every night—we’re always going to take it to a different direction.”

So how did a bunch of Northwest-side guys barely past drinking age get hooked on such a throwback sound?

“Everyone in the band is hugely influenced by older music, and all of our stories are going to be different,” says Mauser. “We love ’50s rock, ’60s soul, ’70s funk and classic rock. It’s the stuff we grew up with.”

True to their shape-shifting character, Mauser promises the next record will flip the script yet again.

“If Dreamers was the ’60s garage pop record, this new one is going to be more along the lines of ’70s power pop,” said Mauser. “I’m constantly changing up what I listen to, and that inspires different styles in the songwriting.”

That new album, set to be recorded by Deerhunter sound engineer Chris Koltay, is slated for release early next year.

“This will be our first time really working with a full-fledged producer, so we’re really looking to expand the sound and add different instrumentation,” says Mauser.

For the time being, Ivarra, Mauser and González are concentrating more on conquering the country one town at a time.

“[The record] helps us get back on the road,” said Ivarra. “That’s where we want to be, out in front of new people playing songs. The idea of playing somewhere new is what drives us. Our tours are, right now, two-and-a-half to three weeks. But almost always we’d like to keep going, and that’s really the goal: playing nightly, sleeping in the seven-passenger van and making enough gas money to make it to the next town.”

Having enlisted the help of a booking agent, the Rich Hands are thinking global. “We have a focus of touring internationally now,” said Ivarra.

In other words, don’t look for these guys to win any polls as “most underrated” any time soon. - J.D. Swerzenski

The Rich Hands practice in bass player Matt Gonzalez’ bedroom, with vinyl albums and posters of bands and Lindsay Lohan lining the walls and looking down on each session. A sticker on the record player on the far side of the room tells you all you need to know about the trio: “It’s only Rock & Roll.”

The band starts by polishing a newer song as they prepare for their upcoming national tour and the straightforward blues-based rock comes pouring out like vintage Rolling Stones. No frills, no layered guitars or complex mazes of effects pedals, just rock ‘n’ roll.

The story of the group, and the direction of the new tour and record “Dreamers,” which came out on May 21 on iTunes and is also available in hardcopy through Fountain Records, reads like a step-by-step manual on how to start and grow a band.

Step 1: Get the band together.

Cody Mauser, who sings and plays guitar, started the group as an outlet to jam on original material, with the first show about four months later in June 2011.

While many new groups start by covering other songs as a first step in building cohesion, The Rich Hands came around to playing them as a fun treat to pull out on tour. The Rolling Stones’ “Jumping Jack Flash” is the latest cover the group has in their back pocket for the new tour.

Step 2: Get a label.

Four months after their first show, drummer Nick Ivarra, who also handles all booking and other communication, noticed that Fountain Records, a vinyl-happy Detroit label founded by Michael Monte, was following the band on Twitter.

Nick jokingly mentioned in a tweet that it would be cool if the band could send them a demo and to his surprise the label took them up on the offer.

So the group sent a demo along, and POOF! Fountain Records agreed to put out a single on 7” vinyl. “Heartbreaker” came out in March of 2012 and has since sold out.

“Literally the power of social networking at its finest,” said Mauser, seemingly still carrying a bit of disbelief at their incredible fortune.

Step 3: Tour, tour, tour.

The Rich Hands kick off a nationwide tour on Friday night at The Ten Eleven for a show that doubles as a record release. This will be the group’s fourth national tour in their breakneck two-year history.

“It’s always the small towns that really surprise you,” explained Mauser, as he, Nick and Matt proceeded to name off a few of their favorites like Spokane, Washington, Boise, Idaho, and Fayetteville, Arkansas, along with big cities that have treated them well like Milwaukee and Atlanta.

On their last tour, they came back with $300 at the end of the trek.

“We didn’t have to pay out of our own pockets for food or gas,” said Mauser.

The Next Step

The group says that they are close to getting a booking agent, which should open up more time for them to focus on creating a new record, and will likely get them new shows in new places.

The next step for the band seems to be to just keep playing shows and working on new music — and keep letting the process work for them.

“There’s been times on each tour where we’ve been down about shows and stuff, but I think they’ve gotten better, they’ve progressed,” said Mauser. “Every tour we’ve either sold more or had more people come out [than the last].” - Chris Marx

I know very little about San Antonio based group The Rich Hands, though I feel a little embarrassed since they live just down the road from us. My ignorance aside, I’ve found myself taken almost immediately to the band’s sound and style. Below you can get a taste of what I’m talking about with “Never Let You Go”, which displays a keen since of pop music with some dirty garage overtones. They remind me a lot of ATX/Houston friends Young Girls so of course I’m in for that.

The band has a new LP Dreamers out now on tape via Burger Records. Vinyl copy is due out next month on the same label. - Ryan Ray

Though the “garage rock” label has, over the years, become ubiquitous enough as to be rendered somewhat ineffective as a descriptor, San Antonio’s The Rich Hands make the kind of music that the term was invented for. Dreamers, the group’s towering and gritty debut, is bright, loud, muddy, and chock-full of poppy hooks. If these short songs had an ounce more polish to them, they’d be too sweet for their own good. As they are, however, the songs, with their doo-wop rhythms, reverb saturation, and roughshod vocals, tap into your nostalgia and find the sweet spot between romanticism and apathy. - James Courtney

It has already been mentioned in The Rich Hands in the song of the week , then it is cause of their latest 7 ", Bad Girl / La Luna , to be published next month on Fountain Records .
What distinguishes The Rich Hands of their innumerable stooges probably lies in the vocal abilities of their singer, whose tessitura popisante reminiscent of Johnny Tex.
It begins with " Bad Girl " , clear serenade punctuated by sparkling choruses. A nice introduction to the subject that contrasts completely with side B.

Let us come to "La Luna." Fort is likely that the piece is best appreciated with a quarter pounder in the hands against the predominance of riffs that streak of black asphalt all contact surfaces.
was unaware that the Texas trio was in the belly of what lay an almost as fuzzy intrumental & punchy. Like what, sometimes it feels good to be totally off base!
- celia

Listening to THE RICH HANDS kind of reminds me of being a kid and sitting on the floor of my parents’ living room in front of the record player with my mom’s collection of 60's albums. They’ve got that garage sound down, and they even add in some surf and out of control guitars for good measure. A lot of bands doing this these days, but THE RICH HANDS do it better. The songs are sweet and catchy without being corny, and I even dig the lone instrumental song on this record. These youngins from San Antonio released these tracks last year, although I just heard it for the first time last week and word on the street is that they’ll be playing up here sometime this summer, I can’t wait. - Boston Hassle

This was meant to be an album review, but for some reason I can’t open the file I was sent. And if I’m honest, I feel uncomfortable reviewing records. I’d rather listen to everything a band/singer has done, and try to write something of worth. If they put everything they have into making a record, then who am I to dissect it and tell you why you should buy it? I’d rather just go through all they’ve done and tell you why they’re great.

Which has led me onto writing about a band called The Rich Hands, a trio from San Antonio who have only been going a couple of years. In some songs they remind you of very early White Stripes, but when you get past that (it isn’t a bad thing) you realise just how brilliant they are in their own right. A typical sound that I adore- full of heart and oozing with such pure rawness. A lot try to emulate this kind of music, but it seems so natural for The Rich Hands to make. They are pure Rock & Roll with a delightful Garage Rock backbone. Garage Rock is the kind of music that always makes you feel more confident than you actually are- much like Punk. It is bold and it is honest. The things we want to be is found in Punk and Garage Rock; they allow us to be tough even when we are the most sensitive of souls. Filling us with bravado as we strut to the rambunctious sounds- just for some time to be oblivious to our own thoughts. Music is the purest of escapes.
The Rich Hands are everything you want your favourite (new) band to me. Their music is delightfully wild and frightfully brave. Their sound makes you feel like you are anywhere but where you are and not in 2013. They take you to the dirtiest of bars and wash your soul clean with their rowdy scenes. Music to lose your mind to and music that just sets you free.

The Rich Hands are releasing their debut record DREAMERS digitally on the 28th May, on cassette on 4th June and finally on vinyl on 9th July all via Fountain Records. You can listen to previous released here on their bandcamp page: http://therichhands.bandcamp.com - Olivia

THE RICH HANDS of San Antonio, TX sent us over their new 7? with their single Bad Girl on Fountain Records. This will eventually lead to their upcoming full-length record which we should see later this year.

“Bad Girl” is an infectious and crunchy pop nugget driven by bright, hook-heavy guitars and Cody Mauser’s blown-out croon. Operating on a short and straight to the point formula, pop simplicity is the key in a song like this. Flip sides and they totally change gears on B-side “La Luna” for a blitzing surf-rock instrumental. Crashing drums and noisy, mangled textures gives the track its evil, menacing qualities, revealing sharp and twangy soloing that is the main focus of the track. Toward the end there’s a gradual decline in volume and intensity as things seem to die out, however it’s only a trick to catch you off-guard when the guitars regain consciousness and jump back down your throat. Listen to the 7? below then sit tight for their full length later this year. - Styrofoam Drone

The Rich Hands make rock music. Their tags on Bandcamp are awesome. They include: beasts of yucca flats, can’t get enough of you, cold dead night, ghost dance blues, and rock n’ roll.

These four dudes are making really cool blues rock. That’s a genre that’s way too overdone these days, and it’s really refreshing to find a band that does it well.

“Beasts Of Yucca Flats” is one of the best blues rock jams I’ve heard in quite a while. “Can’t Get Enough Of You” is a lot more typical, but it’s played and recorded really well.

These songs were recorded at Sweatbox Studios in Austin. I can’t imagine how hot a place in Texas called Sweatbox is. I hope that’s an ironic name. Texas is way to hot.

The members of The Rich Hands were friends in high school who loved 50s rock and 60s pop. They know their influences, and they regularly take great lessons from them to create their own musical greats.

If you get the opportunity and you like good old fashioned rock and roll, I’d absolutely recommend seeing The Rich Hands live sometime. They seem to play around the San Antonio area pretty regularly, branching out to other cities sometimes.

Texas, you are known for the blues, and you’re doing a great job of turning out lots and lots of new blues rock bands all the time. Too many of them sound the same, but this one does not. The Rich Hands is a great one. Thank you. - Brad Fugate

Next up was another group from Texas, four-man garage/punk band The Rich Hands. They knocked the energy level up a few more notches with some strong melodies, stomping drums, buoyant bass, twangy riffs and scorching solos. They sounded like the Beatles one minute, the Troggs the next and the Who after that. Raucous, caterwauling, grand fun. The playful moshing during the set generated a tremendous amount of body heat. Thankfully, everyone seemed to have remembered to wear their deodorant. - B. Schultz

Txas has a knack for cranking out sweaty, blues-based, country-tinged rock n’ roll, and San Antonio’s Rich Hands are right in line with current bands like the Strange Boys. “Girl,” the flipside of their new 7” out on Fountain Records, is a twangy stomp with tons of howling vocals and handclaps, and sounds a bit like Dead Ghosts with better production. Stream both tracks on the Rich Hands’ Bandcamp, and head over to Fountain’s store to pick up the record. - Zach Braun

For a bunch of young bucks, the Rich Hands are a surprisingly mature, unified band that crank out absolutely infectious and tight rock 'n' roll jams that are over so quick that you're not ready to let go of them. That is, until the next track kicks in and pulls you up off your ass again. The band's songs are '60s garage rock concentrate with a heavy dose of white-boy soul: quick and to-the-point jams with no extraneous junk to get in the way.

It's perfect 45 rpm music and, appropriately, their debut 7-inch has recently been released by Fountain Records out of Detroit. The standout track, "Gypsy Woman," sounds like that gleaming obscure 45 single you found at Goodwill that all your hipster buddies hound you over, while another pair of tracks, "Heartbreaker" and "Girl," ensure that the cute chick with the thick-rimmed glasses you've been hanging out with will swoon for you later after you leave this wax at her house.

"It would be nice if our music was heard more locally," member Cody Mauser told the Current. The young band seems a bit ambivalent about their place in the San Antonio music community so far, and has found Austin's scene more welcoming. While they haven't found their audience in town yet, the group remains optimistic. "We're still such a small band with a lot to learn, but it seems like we're headed in the right direction."

So yeah, San Antonio: Do you want to dance? - James Woodward

Finally moving out of the shadows of Black Lips and The Bad Lovers, stepping off in their own definitive direction, The Rich Hands are all grown up and killin’ it better than ever.



There is always a timidness when you play something from a band you have been geeking over for so long and immediately notice a change, especially as drastically different from what we have come to love and expect from these dudes, but when it is as solid and spot on as this first batch of songs what else can we do but appreciate what they gave us before and revel in the damn fine ride they are taking us on at the moment. Imagining “I Can’t Go On” played in a set between “Sugar” and “Teenager” makes me confident they have what it takes to be more than the band we get stoked to see at Hotel Vegas on a Thursday night, these are the kind of songs careers are built upon, this is how a band becomes timeless. Who would have thought a couple of unbathed dudes out of San Antonio could do it so big?







It should most definitely be noted that these tracks were recorded in Austin, TX at Sweetheart Studios and has the Sweetheart mark all over it in the best possible way. Whatever they are doing over there somehow manages to get bands to lean more Doug Sahm and less Burger Records, I’ve yet to hear a band who walks out of there without sounding better than we could ever have imagined. Call it a hunch but I get the feeling they make all of the bands take peyote until they find god as a prerequisite to working with them. Be on the lookout for our interview with a few of those Sweetheart guys in our upcoming ANON Magazine print edition. -

We’re falling in love with The Rich Hands all over again. Not because we’ve been impatiently waiting for new tunes from the San Antonio trio, but because the new tunes are totally different than what we were expecting…in the best way possible. From doo-wop rock’n’roll, to a more modernized version of that, Cody, Nick and Matt are blazing a new trail with that same Texan touch.

Following albums “Out of my Head” and “Dreamers“, this is the first taste of new music from The Rich Hands in almost two years. With several songs already released, and no solid word on a release date, we can’t help but listen over and over again – each time hearing something different, and something great.

0003991620_10The 7-minute track somehow manages to better highlight those sweet vocals and raw instrumental talent. The rasp wrangles you in like a horse, and lets you go at just the right time that leaves you wanting more.

As the song progresses at a consistent pace, and you sadly think it’s over, a guitar riff unexpectedly leads you into 2 minutes of a climactic build-up and effortless harmonies.



Despite the change of direction for The Rich Hands, one thing remains true – their sound is, was, and will be, undeniably timeless. Bring some of that southern, summer sun over to New York soon boys! - Nadine Suleiman