Camper Van Landingham - No Depression

Harvester doesn’t have as much standard Americana in their sound as their name might imply.  While perhaps the best thing about their second record is it’s broad reach, most of it falls somewhere into the alternative-rock heap – melodic, noisy guitar songs intelligently put together. 

This disc was recorded for Geffen, but the band was let go before it came out.  The label gave the master back to the band and they released in on Lather, a label owned by the band’s guitarist.  Not surprisingly, then, it’s more professionally produced than most independent releases; in particular, the multi-layered guitars sound great, giving the strong compositions a lot of texture. 

The record kicks of with “Batholithic Intrusion” and “Steps”, both of which bear a heavy Pavement influence.  From there, it veers off into hillbilly rocker (“Whisky Dick”), followed by the best cut on the disc, “Tumble On.”  Here the band recalls Camper Van Beethoven (the album name pays tribute to that band and San Francisco Giants pitcher William Van Landingham) with a tension-and-release structure, a killer melody and an absurd , though irresistibly catchy chorus: “They’re all playing chess/Checkmate, what a mess/The king was old/Now he’s dead/Rock n’ roll.”  What does this mean?  I haven’t a clue, and I don’t care – it’s fun and sounds great.  Another highlight is a garagey glam-rocker, “Give it Up Smooth.”  Along the way, they also throw in a couple fragile, country-tinged ballads, “I’ll Be OK” and “Ordinary Motherhood.”

Once you get past the semi-conversational, college-boy vocal style of singer Sean Harrasser, Harvester have a good combo of brains and cool guitar sounds that separate them a bit from the “alt-rock but we like alt-country too” pack.  – Jim Desmond