The Harrisons - 'Wishing Well' / 'Out Tonight' (Melodic)
1/5
By: Michael Lewin
Being stuck in small-minded, petty communities, in shit, dead-end jobs and generally being young, bored and alienated can engender incredible urgency and imagination, a need to get the hell out of there and express the anger and frustration it's bred in you, with passion, with fire, with an understanding of how to kick the hell loose, find some real excitement and party. The dreaming of the Velvets, the naked, scary-as-I-don't-know-what rawness of the Stooges, goddamn rock, y'know? The Harrisons, like quite a lot of bands recently, come from this same background, with the desire to escape, to elevate mundanity into aggressive, desperate euphoria. And like most of those bands, they sound a bit like the Jam and a bit like Razorlight. Which makes us angry, bored and alienated, and we're sure that was never the point.
High-strung, tense guitars, pacey and nearly-vicious bass, clashing drums, all slightly too smooth to be real and immediate... pah. Heard it all before. Bands can still do something new and exciting if they've got the slightest nous about them - the disposable, snotty, youthful wit of Mother & the Addicts, for example. They sound quite a lot like Dr. Feelgood, they won't particularly change your life, but they know it, and even on record they're ALIVE, they're sharp and vicious and funny. There's nothing evocative or elevating to either track here, no incredible dreams that make you see and feel incredible things. Nor is there any aggression or excitement - you don't get the impression you're missing out on a riotous rebellion of beautiful, dirty 16 year olds f**king and fighting and messing themselves up in a back alley while squeals and roars of guitar nearly knock them over in their sheer power, volume and desperation. That's how you should rock, how you should break out kicking and punching and biting and spitting and sneering. Not like a stunted rock eunuch with too much misplaced, self-important belief in your own life-affirming power seeping through every Borrell-ism.
The Harrisons have escaped, and they're undoubtedly having a good time doing it. We're stoked for them; really, we are. They just aren't going to help anyone else escape or have a good time. Not unless they get some ideas and originality. 'I've got the key and I know where to go,' they repeat over and over in 'Wishing Well'. We're not particularly interested in following them, or even finding out where it is they're going. Can't imagine it's anywhere exciting.
Artists in this article: The Harrisons
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