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Harsh
Krieger
Harsh Krieger
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May 4, 2005
Greetings to all my fellow Hipsters, Party Crashers, and
Break Dancers (especially the Break Dancers, I love it
when you guys do the robot!)
The Fox-man is back! (That's right, not only do I refer
to myself in the 3rd person, I give myself nicknames
too.)
I am on the air. Alive & in color. I am your Gonzo
reviewer!
And I bring with me the debut album of a young up &
coming from a place called Nashville, a little town down
south with a rather rich musical history.
Say hello to Harsh Krieger.
... ok, yeah, you can't actually say hi to them, because
you're reading this on a computer screen, and they're
not actually here.
But if you were to actually run into them... well, first
apologize for not paying attention and running into
them. Help them off the ground if you knock them over
too. And then stop running all the freakin' time and
walk, because this what happens when you're always
running. Fer cryin' out loud you learned that in
elementary school... So after all that, say "Hi!",
because you read this interview and I told you too.
This is the debut release of Jake Harsh (who has a
future in action films with a name like that, if the
whole music thing doesn't work out) and Jesse Krieger
(who doesn't have an action film name, but hopefully
Jesse will look out for him and put him in his movies).
Their self-titled debut, Harsh Krieger, comes to us from
the coolest sounding indie label I've heard of so far,
Tabula Rasa Records.
And I gotta' say, I like it.
After a few listens to the disc, I couldn't help but
feel like there was something familiar about the band,
and I realized it was that they reminded of one of the
most underrated pop bands of the last 15 years, Del
Amitri. Not saying these guys are clones of the band by
any means, just that their sound and Jake Harsh's vocals
are very reminiscent of the band. Don't know if Harsh
Krieger are fans, but it's a compliment for sure (feel
free to also pick up The Best of Del Amitri, Hatful of
Rain to see what I'm talking about).
They obviously get something that is to often lost in
the whole indie music scene... strong melodies are a
good thing! Accessibility is a good thing! You don't
have to go out of your way to challenge and/or alienate
the audience. God forbid young, up & coming artists
should make something that sounds like good pop music.
(and for those of you out there who equate "pop" to
Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, Justin Timberlake, and
anything off of American Idol, get your head out of your
ass. Pop music has a rich and vivid history, drawing
from a rich landscape of genres and influences. What
kind of music do you think that is on all of your
Beatles albums??)
The disc leads off with a great Track 1-Side 1, Home. A
good tune that pulls a little musical bait & switch
with' its lightly sampled and strummed lead in, then
breaks & kicks in with the drums, followed by the rest
of the band, to let you know that they're serious about
getting your head bobbin'.
I don't know if it'd make Rob Gordon's all time Top 5
Track 1's-Side 1's, but I'll bet he could equally
impress Dick with his ability to sell 5 copies of the
new disc by Harsh Krieger, just as he did with
The Beta Band. (And if you don't know what the hell I'm talking
about, go out and buy, not rent, a copy of High Fidelity
on DVD. It's a great movie, and it'll definitely help
clear up your misconceptions and attitude towards pop
music.)
So You Could Live, Change, The Shore, and The Luming
join Home as the album's strongest tracks. They showcase
the band's ability to mix a guitar driven sound with the
influence of the folk n' country sounds/strings of the
town they come from. This is a good thing. A band that
gets its first break in a place like Nashville should
sound just like that, a band from Nashville, regardless
of the type of music they're doing. Embrace it and wear
it on your sleeve boys!
The rest of the album... I don't know. I think they have
a great blue print with Home, and on some of the later
tracks on the album, they seem to stop following that
blue print. Like I alluded to before, you guys clearly
have a knack for the whole pop melody thing, so don't
try to force it. Tunes don't have to be cool or unique,
they just have to be good!
Home's been getting a lot of play recently on MTV
reality staples The Real World and The Road Rules, as
well as Fox's The Simple Life. (NOTE TO THE BAND: Guys I
appreciate that you have to be open to all sorts of
opportunities to market & promote yourself, but do you
really want to hitch your wagon to anything that Paris
Hilton is involved with? Her only talent is... well,
being an incredibly shallow, talentless rich kid who's
never had to work for anything in her life. Her 15
minutes are going to be up soon. Even Nicole Ritchie
figured this out and got off that stupid show. I'm just
saying it's ok to say no.)
I know these things because all of us here at RIYLmusic
plugged into the entire pop cultural scene... and I got
a really slick & glossy folder with a bunch of stuff
about the band inside of it. (More commonly known in the
business as "Promotion Materials" and/or "Press Kits".)
That's how frickin' important I am. That's how powerful
RIYLmusic is. People don't just want us to listen to the
band, they want us to know everything about them.
Nothing happens in the business without us knowing about
it. We are THE insiders, and more & more people are
clearly learning this.
Anyway...
If you're looking for something new and fresh to add to
the soundtrack of your own personal reality series, give
Harsh Krieger a try. It's spring, summer's coming, and
it's time for you to change the CD's in your disc
changer as it is.
Don't wait for Clear Channel to tell you what's new &
worth checking out.
That's my job.
Peace Out Y'all!
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