An unabashed beauty. 'Shake Ya,' for example, has hit written all over it. Belying its hip-hop title, it starts as a mid-tempo bop and then blossoms with organ fills and soaring harmonies as a seriously pretty piece of pop. Too soon it's over. 'Little Girl,' which follows, is even prettier. It uses shifts in tempo and melody, techniques reminiscent of The Beach Boys that show up in other places on the album, like 'Useless and Tired.' 'Sun,' another brilliant track, is an organ-driven piece that would sound at home on The Beach Boys 'Smiley Smile' album. The title of the opening cut, 'She's Got a Hold on Me,' may derive from The Beatles' cover of a Miracles tune, but the music owes something to 'I Feel Fine' by The Fab Four. And the tingling harmonies of 'Angela' have the sound of The Turtles. 'Another Day,' a dreamy piece of pop, is The Band's Canadian Americana filtered through a south Texas lens, with a big helping of California harmony — if you can imagine that. 'Hear Me Crying' harkens back to an older era, the late 1950s. It's reminiscent of the kind of music that Los Lobos plays, but the sound is more Brill Building than south Louisiana. The heavy, bluesy 'Officer' follows; it's a bit like 'Flying,' The Beatles' instrumental, only with words.'Where the Waters Roam' clumps along merrily with oddly compelling sour harmonies. 'Wishbone,' sparse and wistful, has a particularly strong Band vibe. And then there's a fabulous cover of Sonny and Cher's hit, 'Baby Don't Go,' an absolute sock-knocker. It doesn't even get a lyrical gender change on 'I've been in town for 18 years and you're the only boy I've had.' But it doesn't need one. The song's great unaltered. Like the rest of the record, Hacienda's version is unbelievably good. - Ben Windham / Tuscaloosa News The opening track, "She's Got a Hold on Me," provides a sunny vocal melody that rides on a fuzzed-out bass line, dances atop a lively telecaster and fits just right between the stamping kick and clapping snare. Auerbach and Hacienda show their appreciation for 50's dance songs with the sock-hop screamer, "Hear Me Crying." The Wonders may have covered this in that Tom Hank's flick, "That Thing You Do." Not really. The tumbling drumbeat, blissful guitar and softly sweet harmonies sound first rate on the Accord's speakers and would bop even better atop look-out point. The track escalates into a climatic verse during which the whole band sings with conviction, "Holding you tight, loving you right," as the keys continue to gently weep in the distance. Good things need not be spoiled, so pick-up "Loud is the Night," and get down. - Hunter Embry / Horizon If you missed Hacienda Wednesday night, you just might have missed one of the better performances of the year in Tuscaloosa. Hacienda blew The Mellow Mushroom away and I don't think many people expected it.They were high energy, fun, dance-able and musically tight. Their bass player was astounding to watch, their rythm section is their greatest asset. - Cory Pennington / Tuscaloosa News Hacienda was the brainstorm of cousins Abraham Villanueva and Dante Schwebel, who started playing together back in 2004. By 2005, having had trouble filling out the rest of their band, they teamed with Abraham's two brothers, Jaime and Rene, and what is now Hacienda took shape. A digital recorder, the support of Black Keys' Dan Aurbach and a few years later, the Hacienda family is making some noise. - WNEW This San Antonio quartet have found just the right mix of roots/indie rock to keep you locked into their fantastic little groove. Their new album was produced by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, and they're currently touring with one of my current favorites, Dr Dog. - Restless Radio It is not often that a first-opener does anything for you except give you a chance to grab another beer, go outside for a smoke, and/or hold your ears shut and scream in agony. Not so, however, with Hacienda, a San Antonio quartet who stayed true to their roots with a solidly talented 45-minute set of Beatles-infused soul rock. Songs like "Hear Me Crying" and "She's Got a Hold On Me" had the audience thoroughly converted; then, a strange thing happened: these scruffy Texas boys got the hipsters to dance. Indeed, a considerably large circle of plaided, skinny-jeaned kids in the center of the dance floor began moving, to the beat of the music, and apparently enjoying themselves. The set ended with a guest harmonica appearance by the fedora'd and well-received Scott McMicken (of Dr. Dog)--this show was to be henceforth fraught with collaboration, one of the most impressive qualities of the performances. It should go without saying that Hacienda went above and beyond the call of duty and demonstrated what opening bands should have had from the beginning: talent. Take note, fledglings. - Devon Maloney / The Beat Of Boston University A truly talented quartet whose sound resembles the Beach Boys in a sort of Beatlesque fashion. In other words, these guys just rock! - It Could Mainstream What’s not to like? Four piece harmonies? Check, they’re in there. Solid production? Check. Well written tunes recorded live to give it the authentic feel of a live performance? Check. And I know what you’re thinking. Woody, wouldn’t it be cool if Dr. Dog chimed in on a couple of tunes? One step ahead of you, my friend. Frank and Scott do stop in to lend a helping hand. You can hear them on “Little Girl” and “Angela” lending their vocal prowess to the harmonies.This is a great debut. Some of my favorites include “Shake Ya,” “Sun,” “Wishbone” and the opening track, “She’s Got A Hold On Me.” - Hear Ya 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 Brothers Abraham, Rene and Jaime Villanueva -- along with their cousin Dante Schwebel from Laredo -- play this mesmerizing, retro, lo-fi sound, and claim both the Beach Boys and The Band as influences. Other critics have thrown around "sounds like" names such as 60s era Sir Douglas Quintet, the Beatles, etc etc, and they all make sense, but the band's self-assured sound is all their own. - Ken Burns Hates Mexicans 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. 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 Hacienda, straight out of San Antonio, Texas, kicked off the evening's sold out show. Their sound was sweet and harmonious, reminiscent of early rock n roll, and their cover of Sonny and Cher's "Baby Don't Go" brought huge cheers. - Mel.Opho.Be Influenced by an array of music, most of it from the '50s and '60s, Hacienda crafts songs in which power pop meets Americana. The quartet's music is borderline lo-fi, laid back in spots, catchy and upbeat in others. - Jim Beal Jr. / MySA 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
Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys refers to them as, “Mexican-Americans who are obsessed with the Beach Boys” and after listening to their debut album, Loud is the Night, that statement rings true. And it’s a harmonic ringing culled from another time and even with comparable efforts (The Carrots) cropping up in Austin, TX it’s reminiscent of another time zone. How about 1965, Huntington Beach, CA, the sun is setting and a friend opens a cooler of ice cold beer? That sounds refreshing and so does Hacienda. It’s exciting to hear a rebirth of 60’s doo-wop twisted tightly in a pop rock prom dress. Largely recorded in a home studio in Akron, OH with members of The Black Keys and Dr. Dog, the tracks roll out smooth with a comforting sincerity. From the song “Shake Ya”, Nature’s sun / why don’t you come out? / why don’t you feel good? / Yeah you know you ought to know / you say you love me, but you’re just too high bring an easy going, carefree feeling to carry us through the album. - Travis Catsull / Live Music Capitol
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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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Rolling Stone
Texas Music Matters (Radio without Borders)
KUT Song of the Day
Austin Chronicle 1
Austin Chronicle 2