Every Joke Is Half The Truth

Leah Hayes currently performs with her group, Scary Mansion, featuring Ben Shapiro (The Fugue) on drums and Bradley Banks (with whom Hayes plays in Francophile band La Laque) on bass. Their debut CD, Every Joke Is Half the Truth, is out now from Zum Records. Working with producer Kyle Fischer (Rainer Maria) over an extended six-month period and opening up the sound of the Thunderstick, the resulting tracks alternate between sparse intimate tones and near claustrophobic layers of feedback, all with an attention to the needs of the songs. Hayes' lyrical approach mines themes of alienation and romantic snafus, embodied in characters litigious, predatory, and straw-filled.