Harrys Gym: Harrys Gym

    Forget the apostrophe, it was removed to adhere to Norwegian grammar rules (no difference made between possessive and plural unless there is already an 's' on the end, in which case an apostrophe is added after the 's'), so I might drop mine too for the sake of this post. Anyway, their self-titled debut, Harrys Gym, came out on October 27, 2008 and while I consider it a better effort than their sophomore release, What Was Ours Can't Be Yours (February 7, 2011), the lead singer Anne Lise Frøkedal sort of agrees. She writes on the bands Facebook page that several songs "are the key tracks": "Brother", "Sarah83", "Attic", "Top Of The Hill" and "Turn Away"--all of which appear on the debut album. Apparently, they are more the style the band really has tried to maneuver in terms of combining synth and organic sound. They cite Blonde Redhead and Animal Collective as favorite influences, which can definitely be heard, while maintaining their own inclusive style too.
    Harrys Gym was born out of a project/band called Dharma (probably no connection to Losts Dharma Initiative, at least that's what it makes me think of...), until musical differences between the main song writers, current lead of Harrys Gym Anne Lise Frøkedal and Ole Øvstedal (former guitarist, from 2000-2001, of Swedish band Euroboys) caused a "musical divorce", according to bassist Ole Myhrvold. The new name of the band, minus Øvstedal, became Harrys Gym because it was the name of an old fitness center in the building where they rehearsed.
    Time to talk music. Listening to the album, I love the alternative grungy sound of the guitar/synths, heavy rhythmic drumming and driving pulse of tracks like "Attic", "Sarah83", "Turn Away" and to some extent "Brother" and "The Escape", which take a bit softer approach. Each track actually has a different level of menace in it really and are all balanced nicely by the cloudy and flowing vocals that float over top, with whispy melodic lines. Harrys Gym seriously reminds me of Blonde Redhead in that regard, except that there is more of a pop element to Harrys Gym, especially in the use of more dance-like rhythmic beats. The latter is even more true with their sophomore release, What Was Ours Can't Be Yours, which contains more jovial and yet influenced by dance and hip hop beats. That may be why I do not prefer it. That being said, some of the new songs, such as "Old Man" (a free download on their website here), are just as good as those on their debut. You can "Old Man" and "Extraordinary Girl" on their Facebook page here.
    I have provided a link to "The Dharma Bums" here, perhaps an unusual choice, because it is a slower ballade, but it is beautiful really and displays the harmonic and melodic capabilities of Harrys Gym very nicely. That and you can hear "Attic", probably my favorite track on their Facebook page. Enjoy.