When somebody tells me a band sounds like Hot Water Music, you can pretty much bet your life I’m going to take an interest.
Those three little letters, FFO, crop up on plenty of the press releases that arrive at MV. “For fans of”, in case you were wondering. And when Hot Water Music appeared alongside Harker’s All That Remains, that was more than enough to get it a hearing.
“Violent Delights” immediately suggests the comparison makes sense. It sounds like Hot Water Music might if they came from Brighton rather than America. When Mark Boniface sings about “smash these walls”, you get a sense of the frustration within, but there’s plenty of texture here too. Boniface and fellow guitarist Louis May, bassist/vocalist Phoebe Saunders and drummer Matt Claxton have more going on than the initial rush might suggest.
“Redacted” underlines that beautifully. The feeling is in the lyrics, the energy in the music, and the two pull you along together. “Hell Knows When” proves that these songs can come at you in a blur, like a sugar rush, while “Last Day On Earth” has that same knack of worming its way in. You might not have expected to be singing these things back quite so quickly, but here we are.
“I Ruin Everything” sounds as though it’s bursting to get going. Boniface’s experiences with ADHD inform its feelings of frustration and failure, and that sense of catharsis is never too far away throughout the record. There’s something compelling about hearing such personal struggles delivered with this much musical life.
“End On End”, one of the longer tracks, changes the vibe, and it’s interesting how mellifluous the slower material can be. “Back To That” is a case in point, its easy flow seeming to hide so much importance. Then there’s “No Radio”, loaded with self-doubt, although you could almost miss that altogether given how upbeat it sounds. Harker have a way of making you enjoy a song before you’ve fully registered what it’s carrying.
“Playing With A Demon” finds them stretching out further, and it’s fascinating that they allow themselves this room. The contrast with “Dislocation”, which follows, is stark. The changes in pace give the record a shape, and there’s ambition here that goes well beyond rattling through a dozen punk songs.
That ambition is perhaps best shown by “Palms”, a cinematic ballad, before the acoustic “Athena” ends things with, for my money, a similar effect to “Something In The Way” at the end of Nevermind. After everything that has gone before, its quieter presence stays with you.
This four-piece are rooted in Brighton’s DIY ethos, and there’s an honesty running through everything they do. Boniface has spoken about The Hold Steady helping him through difficult journeys, with a nod to them in “Dislocation”. Maybe somebody will find that same help in Harker. Given how much of himself he lays bare here, you certainly wouldn’t bet against it.
And when you get down to it, all that remains is a collection of fantastic songs.
Rating: 8/10
