Who: Harlan Pepper
What: Indie-folk brought up-to-date with a sense of humor, a blend of styles, and a little more ‘today’ than most.
Where: Hamilton, Canada. The Google tells me this is in Ontario. Canadian geography is a mystery to me.
Why: Because “Great Lakes” – below and available free from Harlan Pepper’s bandcamp page – is totally awesome. Seriously, it’s a fantastic track – just all-around great. Good lyrics, nice wordplay going on with the lake names, and it weirdly makes me feel like home. I guess because Pittsburgh is near Lake Erie – and by ‘near’ I can only mean ‘nearer than I am right now’ because it’s all relative and stuff – or something, it just feels familiar like home. Anyway … I’ve enjoyed Young and Old, Harlan Pepper’s debut, but I should admit that I think “Great Lakes” really is the standout track. That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with the rest of this very young band’s album – “Reefer” is pretty great as well – but I think Harlan Pepper is still trying out styles to see how they fit and not all of it is as successful as “Great Lakes” is. Their music doesn’t feel like a cohesive whole yet, but Young and Old definitely has moments that point to potential I’ll like to see develop.
When: Young and Old is out now, available via bandcamp!
Filed under: From The 100(mail)b(ox) Tagged: | Folk, Harlan Pepper, Indie
