By Sean Gould
I lived with a poet once. His name was ee cummings and he was weird, so I 86'd him and got a music critic robot instead. When I asked my robot what it thought of Harvey Danger's return rock album, Little By Little, the robot went, "bah, bah, beep, bah." At first I had to agree, but after giving the album some time I would say the album is more bah, beep, beep, beep.
Little By Little (available for download here) is the 2005 internet release by the Seattle quartet. The songs are solid, and there are some good moments in most of them. Consequently, the band has been picked up by Barsuk records. At their core, Harvey Danger is a four piece rock band, with guitar, bass, drums, and vocals. At times, such as "Cream and Bastards Rise," they stick pretty close the rock format. The album also includes a bunch of bars on the ivories, as well as some viola, cello, and french horn parts on the song "What You Live By." While the instrumentation creates nice textures, at other times things get a bit awkward. For instance, the song "Moral Centralia" features a piano and bell combination that sounds like the beginning of a Christmas carol.
The songs are deceptively simple and often campy. At first listening the band seems to stay on the safe side of the creative boundary that marks the beginning of something great, or even very interesting. Before the songs grow on you (and they probably will) they only seem neat and nice, but not much more. The songs all sound familiar, and are all very radio friendly. Some songs, such as "Happiness Writes White," makes you want to bob your head like an idiot then puke. American Piesoundtrack anyone? However, after a bit of listening the cheese becomes the exception, not the rule. To quote vocalist Sean Nelson's own lyric, "you don't have to be a genius, but it helps to."
Little By Little presents strong and economical musical composition. After hearing the album about eight times I began to enjoy the youthful tunes. The melodies are often catchy, as with "Cream and Bastards Rise." At other moments Harvey Danger's strength lies in the harmonies created by the band, led by Nelson. "What You Live By" was the first song on the album I warmed up to. The melody is great. The chords are pretty, and there are some neat build-ups in a few parts. "War Buddies" is similar. The song mirrors my experience with the album; it starts rocky–the first time Nelson sings "buddies" and rhymes it with "muddies" I blew a fuse–but by the time the tanks hit Warsaw I was into it. Overall this band has more to offer than it costs. The album really is worth checking out.
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