Motel Motel – New Denver
I rather like this. I’d heard Harlem floating about the internets for a while so when I first played the album my initial thoughts were: “Big pop song first? Oh dear, bad sign.” All too often that is a sign of a band with either little material or little confidence, and so it has become something of a warning sign for me, I have to confess. It was a bit of a false alarm in this case however, as there’s a lot more good stuff here.
It reminds me a tad of the Felice Brothers during its gentler moments and slightly of Howl, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s Americana album, when it gets a bit more furious. The vocal is a nasal yowl which steps up the gears really effectively, turninging into an impassioned, slightly Gollum-esque shriek at the pinnacle of its distress.
On one hand this is a rock ‘n’ roll inflected Americana album, as you might guess from the above comparisons, but there’s a little more to it than that. There’s also quite a lot of chiming guitary distressed indie in the mix as well. You could just about drag out elements from bands like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah or the Walkmen, if you really wanted to, but in general that shuffle between friendly Americana and thumping, distorted indie rock climaxes is the defining characteristic of this record.
It’s one which I find just slightly uneasy at times, I have to confess. I do get to the point with this record where the thumping crescendoes can be a bit much for my ears – just a little overwhelming in some senses, whilst perhaps lacking the texture which might make them more interesting. That might not be quite the right way to describe it, but there’s definitely something in their bigger, louder, more thunderous moments which I don’t quite like and am finding it tricky to put my finger on.
For the most part, though, I think this is a very good album: it’s got real energy and bite, and the songs stick in your head with tenacity. And what more could you ask for?
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‘Harlem’ is wonderful, loved it since the first time I heard it. I do agree that the album is a little uneven though, and it’s not one that I can listen to over and over, for the same reasons you said. It is a little overwhelming at times.
Really enjoy ‘Harlem’, it’s got a nice understated piano line. I haven’t sampled the album, but to be honest I’m not sure it could ever live up to the coolness that is the cover art.
I don’t know, I quite like this album. It’s in the same bracket as Jordaan Mason & The Horse Museum for me. Not really a collection of songs that can be scattered that widely across the listening populous, but a fucking excellent collection of wonky tunes & quite brilliant musical craftsmanship.
Once you get over the rolling snowball construction of the tracks, i.e. something a little wonkier than the norm listening habits of your average bear, I think you’ll find it rather brilliant indeed.