Friday, May 14th, 2010

HARLEM – Hippies

reviewed by Hanna Rose

Oh yes, oh yes, Harlem is loaded. Take it however you like it, but this threesome have bred a homely blend of punk, pop, rock, and good vibes — pure and simple. The group is an underground goldmine of rough and raw (but melodic as hell) with solid rhythm and ferocity of an angelic summer’s day.

Hippies, the newest addition to the Harlem arsenal, does what it can to reinforce the notion of life-living pop-rock with a flare for cute guitar licks and the wavy tones of shared vocalization from Coomers and O’Mara. Singing songs like “Torture Me” and “Friendly Ghost,” these kids have got the goods to keep the line between Hippies and Harlem’s first album, Free Drugs, clear.

Where the new album differs from the debut is perhaps most noticeable in instrumentation and all the effects that come from being smoothed out — which means, in part, that the songs have become more clearly defined and a little more cleaned up (which goes also for content). For example, the distinctive introductory solo on “Gay Human Bones” is complete contrast alone to the previous works of Harlem and their lot — not to undermine their rockin’ and rollin’ early contributions. Even lyrically, they’ve got themselves into a bluer realm of emotion than some of the more hopeful do wops of their past.

Hippies contains a hefty 16 tracks, each more biting than the last. Its wicked sweetness is part of its appeal, and in as much as becoming its complete persona and voice.

(Matador Records, 304 Hudson St. 7th Floor, New York, NY 10013)