Harris
'New Morning Pulse'
On Urinine Records
Grade: C-With one look at the pink-baby-tee-wearing, looking-of-deep-thought, coffee-drinking brunette on the CD cover, one might be lead to believe they have just come across the next Sarah McLachlan or Lisa Loeb LP. But Lilith fair groupies beware: Harris' debut album "New Morning Pulse" is a brief six song introduction to the diverse stylings of a young Boston quintet with a punk Emo flare. Although I would generally be pretty receptive to a local band just getting started, I have little ability to support this juvenile attempt at musical fusion.

Harris is trying too hard. In their six songs, they have a diverse sound, but it is a rather unsavory mix of punk, Emo and indie rock. It's a twenty-minute album, which is just about enough time to confirm that the good songs are merely decent and that the bad songs are actually horrible.

As the story goes, Harris was named after a guy that was asked to be in the band but ended up quitting. According to the Urinine Records-released bio, they apparently thought it was "funny" to keep the name. It was the University of Massachusetts frat parties and the common factors naturally associated with such parties (namely drinking, hooking up and hangovers) that brought the band together.

Track one, "Tip of my Tongue," is semi-inspired, as it has a catchy melody and uses alliteration. Generally, I live by the motto that you can't go wrong with alliteration, but this is not enough to carry the song. Mike Nastri and Matt Scott provide the vocals, which are gentle, complementing the steady guitar riffs and percussion. But the song passes by without much climax and is easily forgettable.

You begin to feel the punk flavor a little bit with "Lamppost Lights Out." It features an introductory verse with speedy lyrics that trip over each other in an effort to be said, or rather, spit out. Harris seems to be racing to the end of this song, wanting it to be over more then the listeners do - which is hard to believe is possible. Further, I was almost personally offended by its very declarative tone. Whatever it is they are saying, I get the feeling they are barking demands at me. Although only a two-minute song, it seems Harris squished all of the lyrics into the beginning accidentally. Left with thirty seconds to fill, they choose to drag it out with a few nondistinct guitar strums.

An appreciated sparkle of creativity and enjoyment can be found in "Literal." It is a song distinguished by its reliance on digital sound effects sprinkled amongst a head-bobbing percussion beat and amicable bass. The sound fluctuations that opened the song caught me off guard and made me adjust my speakers. I began to check the wire connections thinking there was some kind of technological problem causing that irritating buzz you hear when searching for a radio station in a sea of bad reception. Did we go under a bridge or something? The drum and solo guitar riffs are used to create a build-up that is topped off by the carefully manipulated buzz effect which, although initially irritating, grows on you.

Track four, "City Wars," is an interesting little narrative about a city, post-destruction. It is kind of dark, provoking images of a journey through a sci-fi revolution, with ragged teenage soldiers sporting ripped Good Charlotte shirts, walking through the abandoned halls of a mall. Some lyrics from this song that promote this theme are "The cities been corrupt, a war without a reason" and "We will not give up without a fight." The melody suits the lyrics. It could even work as a soundtrack piece for the next "mutated gangs take over the city" film.

At track five I am actually gritting my teeth. At least this song is only one minute and seventeen seconds - probably because the tomatoes and rotten vegetables ran out and nothing was left to throw. As I listened to "Burn This Mother Down," I couldn't help but imagine five guys jamming out in their parents' basement, patting each other's backs for their absolute brilliance. It is an angry, chair-breaking, head-banging minute of ill-performed angst. It's not that I don't like passion - this is just not at all gracefully expressed. The song brought the quality of the album down to the unsavory low of which I earlier spoke.

Harris needs a couple more years to mature as a group. This album is definitely a debut. A little guidance from some older and wiser rock groups would do them good. I say good luck to Harris, but I definitely won't be seeing them performing live on their native Boston stage until they grow out of their diapers a bit.