Harum Scarum
Mental Health
Tribal War Records
Reviewed by Josh Anxt
I hope this review doesn't seem biased since I was half the engineering team on the production of this album. I don't believe it will though. In my two years at that studio I saw a few punk bands. Some good, some bad, none great. None until Harum Scarum walked in. These four girls hail from Portland, OR. They play an original brand of punk that is sometimes heavy, and sometimes just good old punk. Songs such as 'C.C.T.V.', 'As civilians die', and 'Systematic death' contain that heavier edge. This is due to Erins guttural, deep growls. Songs such as 'Jack', 'Goody', and 'The Outsider' are straight up punk. Erins low growls are here too, but innertwine with more punk shouts and screams. There is a small portion of real singing as well. Subject matter is political. Topics such as pollution, religion, the worlds forests and much more. There is also a spoken word track by spoken word man Mark Broback. Musicianship is great too. Shari is a stop on the dime metronome. Dyanne plays melodic filled bass lines. And Toni is quickly becoming my favorite punk guitar player. Her riffs are as I say, rifftastic. I must warn you that this disc is addicting. Find it, buy it, light one up, and listen to it. Bye.
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