by Little Miss B, 2 May 2010...
Photo by Anniken C. Mohr
Harrys Gym are a Norwegian four-piece, as yet relatively unknown on this side of the pond but doubtless soon to make some serious waves. Purveyors of beautifully crafted atmospheric psychedelic pop, this blissed out indie outfit have a knack for producing eerily captivating melodies.
Part Yeah Yeah Yeah's, part Mew, Harrys Gym were born from the ashes of the now defunct Dharma. Named after an abandoned fitness centre in their home town, their blend of lush, textured 'dream pop' and nu-gaze/synth melancholia render this band a proper treat to discover.
Speaking to Paul Lester, frontwoman Anne Lise Frøkedal admitted “No one knows how to describe us."
"We’re a pop band but we’re not the easiest – there are more radio-friendly bands than us. And we can be pretty hard-hitting live, which no one expects.”
The band have been most impressed recently by the collaboration between folk singer Vashti Bunyan and doyens of the US underground turned alternative mainstream idols Animal Collective. “We don’t want to sound like them but that way of combining the electronic and organic is what we’re aiming for.” The closest that Harrys Gym have come to achieving that on their self-titled debut album is on opener Brother, Sarah83, Attic, Top Of The Hill and Turn Away. “Those,” she says, “are the key tracks.”
With blisteringly beautiful androgynous vocals, poetically intimate sonic meanderings and unarguably hook-laden songs, Harrys Gym are our new favourite band. To listen, please click here.
Harrys Gym will be playing Madam JoJos on 11 May, The Luminaire on 12 May and the Flowerpot on 18 May.
