Sunday, September 27, 2009

Harlem Shakes (RIP) - Technicolor Health

The cover of Harlem Shakes new EP, Technicolor Health, depicts a rainbow over a desolate city street in a serious state of disrepair. This image illustrates the kind of clear-eyed optimism that the New York quintet radiated in their music and is a perfect introduction to a great album. Infused with bits of jazz, soul, and Latin rhythms, Harlem Shakes stirred up all kinds of buzz back in 2007 when they released their debut EP, Burning Birthdays. After hitting the road for a series of tours with bands like Deerhoof and Vampire Weekend, Harlem Shakes teamed up with producer Chris Zane (The Walkmen, Passion Pit) in the summer of 2008 to record their last album Technicolor Health. Yes kids, that's right, I said last. But well get to that later.

The albums title comes from the novel "Mysteries in Pittsburgh" by Michael Chambon, a coming-of-age tale set during the early 1980s in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The phrase 'in our Technicolor health and high spirits' served as inspiration for the band during the creation of the album, a difficult time for the bands members. In a world full of cynical indie rock, Technicolor Health is refreshingly positive from start to finish. Full of catchy hooks, synth washes and clever writing that keeps telling the listener that things are looking up. The track "Strictly Game" perfectly sum up the feel of the album with the great lyrics "make a lot of money, take a lot of shit, feel real bad, then get over it, this will be a better year". The album stresses leaving the negative behind and looking toward tomorrow, a great listen for anyone having a bad day/week/year.



Throughout the record the band never rests, constantly switching time signatures and tempos, adding quirky instrumental embellishments, and simply playing their hearts out for the entire 37 minutes. Lead singer Lexy Benaim puts his high-pitched vocals to good use, injecting emotion into the songs leaving the listener feeling that the band has actually lived what they are singing about. Brent Katz, who has been with the band since their early dance club days, uses drums and drum machines to give the songs their poppy upbeat feel. Kendrick Strauch (keyboard), Tod Goldstein (guitar) and Jose Soegaard (bass) all give solid performances as well as providing all the back up 'oohs' and 'aahs'.

Technicolor Health is full of hopeful hooks and high harmonies combined with witty wordplay and an irresistible energy. There are plenty of great tracks that I can talk about, from the great album opener "Nothing But Change Part II" to the almost folk tracks "Strictly Game" and "Niagara Falls". While "Strictly Game" has the most hit potential, "Sunlight" is clearly the standout track on the album, an upbeat song using drum machines, synths and acoustic strums to create a indie-pop gem that you will be humming for weeks. Also making an appearance on the new album is Harlem Shakes long time live staple "TFO" (a family-friendly acronym for "The Fucking Ocean"), the song that served as my first introduction to Harlem Shakes.

And now for the bad news, despite producing one of the best albums of 2009 Harlem Shakes broke up earlier this month. A bit ironic considering the overall positive nature of their songs. However there is some good news, Shakes' guitarist Todd Goldstein is currently working on a side project called Arms, which will re-release their first album, Kids Aflame, in the US digitally on October 27th. I haven't heard it yet but I remain optimistic that it will be great.

No comments:

Post a Comment