Into the Night

Album review

Daniel Clowes once drew a story for his comic book Eightball that included two hipsters comparing notes on the '70s 1950s, as typified by the TV show Happy Days, versus the '80s 1950s, best exemplified by the Stray Cats. Jeremy & the Harlequins similarly have the '50s on the brain, while possessing their own take on the sound and style of the first rock & roll decade. On the band's second album, 2016's Into the Night, lead singer Jeremy Fury performs the requisite vocal gulps and somersaults that are the stuff of rockabilly rebels then and now, and he has a clean, forceful instrument when he goes for a more straightforward delivery. Guitarists Craig Bonich and Patrick Meyer lay down layers of guitars full of echo, twang, and rumble. Add in the spare, steady pulse of bassist Bobby Ever and drummer Stevie Fury (Jeremy's brother), and what you get is a stylized variation on first-era rock that's cool, confident, and not without its charms. Trouble is, the melodies aren't nearly as effective as the band playing them. Jeremy & the Harlequins try hard to evoke the sounds of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Everly Brothers, and Eddie Cochran. But numbers like "Big Beat" and "There's a Girl" sound more like they were written for a Broadway musical set in the '50s than actual rock & roll tunes, songs that had genuine passion and fire even when they sounded playful or low-key. These guys have their sound down pat, and their chops are fine indeed, but Jeremy & the Harlequins come off like a band that came up with an effective style without dreaming up the songs that would put it to best use. After a few spins of Into the Night, it becomes obvious that if there were ever a band that should welcome the right outside songwriter, it's these fellows.

© Mark Deming /TiVo