The Harmed Brothers - Better Days
2013 – Fluff &
Gravy Records
When we talk about musical performances being ‘heartfelt’ it points to the fact that the emotional radiation draws the listener into the world the musician is trying to portray. The Harmed Brothers define ‘heartfelt’ more than most with their two peerless lead vocalists who despite the excellence of the songwriting and playing are defined by the strength and depth of feeling of those quite compelling vocals.
I’ve often seen this excellent band compared to Uncle Tupelo but I only see this in terms of having two high quality lead vocalists and their own individual sound that doesn’t, as with their excellent debut album ‘Come Morning,’ bring anyone else to mind. Whereas UT brought a strong punk element to their country music the Harmed Brothers, if anything, have some bluegrass in their makeup but with a lot of folksiness, alt. country, old timey and various other indeterminate influences.
This tight knit band, as with their last album, consists of Ray Vietti on guitar and lead vocals, Alex Salcido on banjo and also lead vocals plus piano and guitar. Zach Kilmer is on upright bass and Ben Kilmer on drums, with all of the songs being band co writes with the exception of Under The Axe by Alex Salcido and Guthrie McClenny, and the album was recorded at Native Sound Studios, St. Louis, Missouri. The vocals are their strongest suit, with the songwriting almost as excellent and the instrumentation seems to be better balanced than on ‘Come Morning,’ ultimately moving this album several notches above it’s predecessor! It doesn’t matter which of the two takes the lead vocal the quality remains pretty much peerless, overall creating an atmosphere on just about every song, that has an incredibly raw emotional feel that few if any other bands can match.
Album opener When You See Me is a superb mid tempo tale of yearning for a lost love, driven by excellent banjo and guitar that have the well balanced support of bass and drums plus the excellent warm evocative vocals and harmonies. A great start, but even this is surpassed by the quite stunning Sky Cracked A Smile, on which the lead vocalist changes but the vocals are still incredible as are the harmonies, with a similar instrumentation supplemented by piano on an intensely sad ballad that is full of heartfelt emotion and has a sparse alt. country feel. A real beauty of a tale that truly is a stunner and depending on the listeners mood can actually put a powerful drain on the emotions, thanks to the intensely dramatic tale and performance! Never Went Away is a lovely slow shuffling song with the usual great vocals, led by banjo but with bass, guitar and snare not far behind on this simple love song that as with most of their music is full of little subtleties that draw the listener in. This is followed by the excellent mid tempo piano driven title song, Better Days, with the usual quite uplifting vocals on a tale that is fully immersed in alt. country. Final mention is for Love Song For The Assumed, an unusual song with banjo, keyboards, excellent bass, hand claps and a repetitive vocal that gradually inveigles itself into the consciousness as the slow burning intensity gradually builds.
This incredible album just seems to get better with every listening session. It is an album that with it’s generally sparse instrumentation and arrangements proves that if the songs and particularly the vocals are good enough simplicity really is the key! The songs are often uplifting despite much sadness, but ultimately perhaps they put a huge drain on the emotions as the listener is carried along by a tide of almost ethereal beauty. Sadly, in many ways, these tales can never really be sung by anyone else, such is the perfection of the performances and lyrics. I gave their previous album 3.5 stars, which I thought signalled a very good album. This offering leaves that album far, far behind! I actually now put this band up there with the Sumner Brothers and the Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit. I really can’t come up with higher praise!
http://www.theharmedbrothers.com/
When we talk about musical performances being ‘heartfelt’ it points to the fact that the emotional radiation draws the listener into the world the musician is trying to portray. The Harmed Brothers define ‘heartfelt’ more than most with their two peerless lead vocalists who despite the excellence of the songwriting and playing are defined by the strength and depth of feeling of those quite compelling vocals.
I’ve often seen this excellent band compared to Uncle Tupelo but I only see this in terms of having two high quality lead vocalists and their own individual sound that doesn’t, as with their excellent debut album ‘Come Morning,’ bring anyone else to mind. Whereas UT brought a strong punk element to their country music the Harmed Brothers, if anything, have some bluegrass in their makeup but with a lot of folksiness, alt. country, old timey and various other indeterminate influences.
This tight knit band, as with their last album, consists of Ray Vietti on guitar and lead vocals, Alex Salcido on banjo and also lead vocals plus piano and guitar. Zach Kilmer is on upright bass and Ben Kilmer on drums, with all of the songs being band co writes with the exception of Under The Axe by Alex Salcido and Guthrie McClenny, and the album was recorded at Native Sound Studios, St. Louis, Missouri. The vocals are their strongest suit, with the songwriting almost as excellent and the instrumentation seems to be better balanced than on ‘Come Morning,’ ultimately moving this album several notches above it’s predecessor! It doesn’t matter which of the two takes the lead vocal the quality remains pretty much peerless, overall creating an atmosphere on just about every song, that has an incredibly raw emotional feel that few if any other bands can match.
Album opener When You See Me is a superb mid tempo tale of yearning for a lost love, driven by excellent banjo and guitar that have the well balanced support of bass and drums plus the excellent warm evocative vocals and harmonies. A great start, but even this is surpassed by the quite stunning Sky Cracked A Smile, on which the lead vocalist changes but the vocals are still incredible as are the harmonies, with a similar instrumentation supplemented by piano on an intensely sad ballad that is full of heartfelt emotion and has a sparse alt. country feel. A real beauty of a tale that truly is a stunner and depending on the listeners mood can actually put a powerful drain on the emotions, thanks to the intensely dramatic tale and performance! Never Went Away is a lovely slow shuffling song with the usual great vocals, led by banjo but with bass, guitar and snare not far behind on this simple love song that as with most of their music is full of little subtleties that draw the listener in. This is followed by the excellent mid tempo piano driven title song, Better Days, with the usual quite uplifting vocals on a tale that is fully immersed in alt. country. Final mention is for Love Song For The Assumed, an unusual song with banjo, keyboards, excellent bass, hand claps and a repetitive vocal that gradually inveigles itself into the consciousness as the slow burning intensity gradually builds.
This incredible album just seems to get better with every listening session. It is an album that with it’s generally sparse instrumentation and arrangements proves that if the songs and particularly the vocals are good enough simplicity really is the key! The songs are often uplifting despite much sadness, but ultimately perhaps they put a huge drain on the emotions as the listener is carried along by a tide of almost ethereal beauty. Sadly, in many ways, these tales can never really be sung by anyone else, such is the perfection of the performances and lyrics. I gave their previous album 3.5 stars, which I thought signalled a very good album. This offering leaves that album far, far behind! I actually now put this band up there with the Sumner Brothers and the Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit. I really can’t come up with higher praise!
http://www.theharmedbrothers.com/