ALBUM OF THE WEEK
A lot of bands come and a lot of bands go around these parts, but none of them are quite like Melbourne’s Harmony.
Harmony have a similar intensity to that of The Nation Blue, vocalist/guitarist Tom Lyngcoln’s day job, albeit in a very different field.
The band’s sprawled, slithering and seething take on garage rock is contrasted by the angelic voices – Amanda Roff, Quinn Veldhuis and Erica Dunn – and the conflict between the light and shade has managed to grow into something even greater on the band’s second album. Whether they are detailing merciless human behaviour or a constant mental struggle, one can’t help but be mesmerised by the jagged shifts and the guttural howls of desperation that echo from the lurches ofCarpetbombing. It’s the antithesis of easy listening, favouring a cold abrasiveness and a slow-burning structural dynamic that may whisper into the ether one minute before blowing out a speaker the very next. It’s an abstract and difficult record, and one that should be eased into rather than undergoing an instant immersion into its sinister surrounds.
Sticking it out withCarpetbombing, however, will be rewarded greatly.We may already be onto one of the best Australian releases of the year.
Out now on Poison City.
