[rating=8.00]
Portland, Oregon band The Harmed Brothers have come a long way since releasing their debut album All The Lies You Wanna Hear in 2009. With their earlier efforts, the band favored a rootsier, gritty folk-rock sound. This worked well, but The Harmed Brothers were never content to simply stay the same, and they continued to experiment and ultimately evolve. On their self-titled new album the group has tapped into an expansive, more broadly indie rock and Americana sound. This album is sort of a companion or perhaps an extension of last year’s EP A Lovely Conversation, which included the first single from the album along with six b-sides.
Album opener “Greetings From Mardi Gras” begins with a wave of muffled static before a piano and a drum machine come in only to be followed by a cello and the shaky vocals of Ray Vietti. The song sets the mood for the at times emotionally turbulent tunes to follow. “Adopt a Highway” picks up the tone and the tempo, and the catchy Americana brings to mind Ryan Adams, whereas “A Lovely Conversation” is reminiscent of Wilco and Centro-matic with its infectious harmonies and soaring instrumentation. “In the Wind” is a twangy country-soul anthem, while the downhome narrative of substance abuse and fuckin’ up “Cryin’ Shame” captures Vietti’s talent as a storyteller. “Elvis the Lion” roars with feedback before building into a powerful call to arms with its demand to “celebrate with love, love, love”, making it one of the more hopeful songs on the album to hit before “Don’t Wanna Be Lonesome”, a pleading ballad made more somber by a lonely trumpet.
Many of the songs on the album are sad and confessional, with the characters seeking love and redemption for not always making the best choices in life. These are songs about coming to terms with one’s flaws and a fight against loneliness, but through lush orchestration and fellow Portlander Paul Brainard’s horn arrangements there is a fragile beauty to it all. The epitome of this happens during the album’s final song “Sunshine”, which closes out with a wave of optimism that seems to say no matter how tough the road of life can get there is beauty and salvation to be found in friendship.
Compared to their previous efforts, this album finds The Harmed Brothers embracing a sound that is more indie rock than folk, and more Americana than bluegrass. Gone are the days of a ragtag group of musicians picking a banjo on a tiny stage. What we hear on The Harmed Brothers is a band that has matured into serious songwriters capable of crafting songs that stay with you long after listening. The band has grown and so has their sound, and now that the album is released it’s only a matter of time before their fan base does too.
Top photo: Chad Lanning
