Harlem work hard to make it easy
July 5th, 2010
The Goods: Harlem by no means evokes any of the connotations that a name such as that usually implies. They are not from the NYC borough, they certainly do not rap and they don’t do the harlem shake. Harlem, rather, is a lo-fi garage pop trio from Austin, Texas. Admittedly, that doesn’t sound quite as exciting until you hear their stunning sophomore album Hippies on Matador Records.
Best Tracks:
Someday Soon
Friendly Ghost
Gay Human Bones
Sounds Like: Black Lips meets Jay Reatard meets The Strange Boys
Why You Should Listen: From a band whose influences were self proclaimed in the quote, “The only band we like is Nirvana. The only album we like is Nevermind. The only song we like is Smells Like Teen Spirit,” it’s no surprise that Harlem have mastered the laissez-faire attitude when it comes to their music. The band, comprising of Michael Coomers and Curtis O’Mara, both on vocals, guitar and drums, and bassist Jose Boyer, have managed to make lazy half-assed musicianship sound pretty good.
2010’s Hippies is more clean and refined than 2009’s Free Drugs, but that doesn’t mean Harlem are about to take things seriously. It’s obvious from their diluted and nonchalant bubblegum pop that they just want to have fun. With catchy riffs and singsong choruses, all 16 tracks ooze with frenetic energy and youthful zeal. They have mastered trying hard to sound like they haven’t tried at all.
To say that lo-fi pop is simply having a moment doesn’t give Harlem enough credit. Hippies is most definitely an accomplishment. The great thing about this album is that there are no clearly defined singles in the track list. Though no songs particularly stand out, each individual song is equally as amazing. It will be an album that you can listen to from beginning to end for the rest of the summer.
Tags: Harlem
Posted on Monday, July 5th, 2010 at 1:04 pm by Arianne - Correspondent and is filed under Reviews, The New Music.
