ARTiST: Harrisons
TiTLE: No Fighting In The War Room
LABEL: Melodic Records
GENRE: Indie
TiME: 42:55 min
SiZE: 67,6 MB
BiTRATE: VBRkbps
RiP DATE: Apr-13-2007
RELEASE DATE: Jun-11-2007
WEBSiTE: n/a
Track List:
01. Dear Constable 03:55
02. Man Of The Hour 02:39
03. Wishing Well 02:37
04. Little Lost Boy 03:20
05. Simmer Away 05:16
06. Take It To The Mattress 03:50
07. Listen 03:58
08. Monday's Arms 02:52
09. Medication Time 03:04
10. Crystal Sweet 03:42
11. Blue Note 03:31
12. Come For Me 04:11
Release Notes:
Some things are worth waiting a while for. Take,
for instance, the debut album from Harrisons. This
time last year, the Sheffield quartet were heralded
alongside fellow cityfolk Arctic Monkeys and Long
Blondes as part of a northern renaissance that NME
dubbed "New Yorkshire".
Harrisons had already made an impression with
frantic debut single "Wishing Well" and just as
frenetic follow up "Blue Note". Then, while their
neighbours went on to reach great heights, nothing.
These four lads disappeared from view - until now.
For while No Fighting In The War Room is not due
until April, forthcoming single, disco stomper
"Monday's Arms", shows how they have progressed -
and the success is down to a deliberate strategy, as
singer and guitarist Adam "Jubby" Taylor testifies.
"We could have done this album when those singles
came out, but it wouldn't have been as good. Some
people get excited when they get their deal, but we
sat back and took our time. That thing about missing
the boat is rubbish. If something's good, it will do
well."
"We didn't want to have to compete with those other
bands," lead guitarist Ben Stanton adds. "We just
wanted to come out on our own terms rather than be
stuck in a so-called scene. And if you look at
Definitely Maybe or The Stone Roses' first album,
there's no filler on them. You can listen to
different tracks at different times of the day."
Jubby and Ben, spokesmen for the band, have convened
at a pub round the corner from Sheffield's ill-fated
National Centre for Popular Music, now an
eye-catching student venue, and near the city's
recently renovated train station. Judging by water
features and gleaming paving slabs, the place is on
the up, as are Harrisons' own prospects.
"A lot of new bands release an album and everyone
will have the same favourite songs," Jubby explains.
"We wanted people to have completely different
favourites, the darker tracks or the acoustic ones."
Like many bands, they have enormous respect for
classic sounds and sights. The video for "Blue Note"
paid homage to Ken Loach's Kes, shot on the same
Barnsley school playing field as the film's infamous
football scene, though for Harrisons this is not
mere nostalgia.
Born and bred in the city, the foursome have no
desire to leave and even continue to live near each
other in the same Hillsborough district, home to
Sheffield Wednesday. Having said that, they only
came to appreciate it after spending three months
busking in St Tropez in 2005.
"I didn't know how much I liked Sheffield until we
drove back," Jubby admits. "There were four of us in
this little van, playing outside the most expensive
clubs so we could eat omelettes for us breakfast and
dinner. We had a great time in France, but I'm a
creature of habit. Sheffield is home."
Until then, Jubby and Ben had a more problematic
relationship with the place. The guitarist describes
wandering the streets around Hillsborough thus:
"It's just full of lagered, football idiots that
bully you just because you look different. Carrying
a guitar around there is like carrying a dead body."
It was Jubby, though, who got into most trouble. Ben
blames the sort of pubs they used to frequent,
though the singer admits he did have a mouth on him.
It once ended up on the wrong end of a house brick,
leaving him with 15 stitches.
"I used to have small man syndrome, but I've had one
beating too many now. You know when trouble just
seems to find you..."
You can still hear his combative attitude on album
opener "Dear Constable".
"Everyone's got a sense of right and wrong, though
most people don't write about it," he attests. "A
lot of it is Lou Reed's influence. I admire the way
he doesn't cut corners. If something's really
horrible, he won't beat about the bush."
Then again, hope as a theme runs through much of the
album, from the fantasy escapism of "Little Boy
Lost" to the more desperate flight of "Crystal
Sweet", as the lyricist himself is coming to
realise.
"It wasn't conscious, but a lot of it is saying
there's light at the end of the tunnel. When we were
in France, we read The Damage Done, about this man
who tried to bring drugs back from Thailand and
ended up in a Bangkok jail for 12 years. It was
horrific, but he survived."
Jubby only moralises when he lays in to liars. On
"Dear Constable" he suggests people are fooling
themselves, while "Man Of The Hour" provides a more
direct attack on those in charge.
While Jubby pens his lyrics, Ben comes up with the
tunes. The pair met at a local art college, bonding
over a shared love of The Velvet Underground, Bob
Dylan, The Smiths and Oasis. They knew each other
vaguely through siblings and having served
apprenticeships in school bands. Even though their
own district might not welcome guitar-slingers,
Harrisons get on well with the likes of the Monkeys
and Milburn.
"All our friends can play guitar, but we were always
open to ideas and not embarrassed to play in front
of other people," Ben explains. "Sometimes you feel
you are competing with them, but it never felt like
that between us. And there was that ambition not to
stick to a shitty nine to five job."
So the pair poached bassist Ashley Birch and drummer
Mark White from other groups, then nicked their band
name from a nearby road (along with the sign
itself). Such single-mindedness enabled them to
struggle through the first year or so, when they
both worked for Ben's dad in the building trade.
After a hard day's graft they would lug their gear
up and down Sheffield's hills to a rehearsal space.
It also gave them the patience to work hard at fully
realising their potential on the album.
Another local made good, Richard Hawley, offered his
services as producer until the Mercury award
nominee's own album Coles Corner took off. Instead,
he recommended Hugh Jones, widely respected for
surviving in the studio with Echo And The Bunnymen
and The Teardrop Explodes. No trouble from these
lads, though. They have survived some hard knocks,
and now Harrisons are ready to hit back on their own
terms.