Harlem - Hippies

Harlem
Hippies
(2010, Matador)
RIYL = Girls, The Strokes, Hanoi Janes

I just realized that I haven’t written up Hippies. Well, let me go ahead and present this formal recommendation. Hippies is bread and butter. The ingredients aren’t new, but it is super delicious and, similar to actual occassions I've had with bread and butter, Harlem’s version just so happens to be that one time when this simplified recipe seems to hit the spot just that much harder. The band’s sound is strongly reminiscent of Girls’ breakthrough, Album, last year; however, whereas that album left me only slightly peaked and then patently bored, Hippes has me all warm and excited. The lyrics are as crisp as the instrumentation. The whole aesthetic hits squarely, and what more can you ask for than that when pumping some blissful revivalist garage tunes. Harlem plays music for convertibles and road trips (something we got around to at about 2AM on our way to Minneapolis). And that’s about it. This is your summer bread and butter.

-Thistle