It’s a pretty sad indictment when industry bods get excited over a band because they’re reminiscent of The Vaccines and The Strokes in their early years. But such is the way, and having encountered Rory Attwell (The Vaccines, Palma Violets), they recorded their debut album on a boat on the banks of the Thames. Such rock ‘n’ roll extravagance calls to mind the kind of high times you’d probably associate with the aforementioned bands, not to mention the godfathers of cool Britannia and 90s Britpop, Oasis. It’s always struck me as being at odds with such towering mediocrity.
With album number two already written, The Harlots have had the opportunity to record some demos for Universal (don’t you just love the way the majors are less interested in discovering the next big thing as perpetually rehashing the last big thing for a quick buck?). Oh look, one of the guys is wearing a wide-brimmed hat. I wonder if he borrowed it from Samuel Thomas Fryer of Palma Violets, one of the blandest and most inexplicably popular bands of our time.
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I’m not going to deny that The Harlots have some catchy enough choruses of the kind that indie kids will chant drunkenly while bouncing around in a muddy field. But for all the bluster and exuberance, they’re pretty much a bunch of bog-standard indie tunes. Uptempo, lively and all the rest, yes, but bog standard nevertheless. And no, I’ve no idea of the relevance of the album’s title.
The Harlots Online
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