Thursday, April 22, 2010

Harlem

Harlem. That’s right. Yet another band that opts for the lo-fi aesthetic and flaunts an array of songs simply coated in delicious fuzz. Their latest album Hippies, reeks of a shambolic charm with garage-rock revival stylings, thus arriving at tunes which are both sloppy but impressively catchy. I love how one review points out their record to be “one long jangle occasionally interrupted by brief moments of silence”; which is true, because all songs do resemble one another and the likeness so thick that each song just bleeds into the next. But I’m sure, listen to it long enough and some tracks will begin to float up more so than some others, and true gems will be discovered among the rough.

But if there was any real reason as to why I keep coming back to listening to music very much similar to this one, could possibly be answered by an extract from a review below:
The trio plays and sings them all like they are having a great time, like they were just hanging out in someone’s rec room and playing for friends. It’s kind of a rare experience in a world of bands that seem desperate to impress, determined to make the shiniest, the noisiest, the most tripped-out record, bands that are just plain needy. Sometimes it’s enough to write really catchy and fun songs and play them with a minimum of fuss. Harlem has done that on Hippies, and for that, they deserve all kinds of praise. (AllMusic)

|mp3|    Harlem - Friendly Ghost
|mp3|    Harlem - Gay Human Bones

:: Harlem ::
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