Description
Once the intro to opener Human gives way to its fully-realized sonic purpose, its obvious that Harlan T. Bobos fourth proper album, A History of Violence, is quite different from his previous body of work. The classic historical emotional heft of a songwriter trying to make sense of lifes chaos, think mid-70s Lou Reed, especially Coney Island Baby, is a thread that can be heard running through the albums mid-tempo tracks like Human and the miniature literary tragedy that is Nadine. The punchier tracks on the album, like Spiders, might conjure very early Green On Red, what Xs mid-80s output could have been, or even the roots-rock tendencies of overlooked genius, Cass McCombs.
Though this is the first proper full-length by Harlan since 2010s Sucker, the last eight years have in no way framed a musical hiatus of any sort. Bobo contributed to The Memphis Symphony Orchestras conductor-less Opus One project for the 2010 and 2011 seasons, in which his original songs were classically arranged by participating MSO players and performed as chamber pieces for non-traditional audiences at rock clubs. Also in 2011, Harlan, and fellow Memphis music notables Jack Oblivian and Shawn Cripps (Limes) successfully Kickstarter-funded a 40-show Memphis Revuestyle tour through Europe. Already splitting his time between Europe and the States as this decade opened, Bobo continued to perform solo and tour Europe as such while also forming a Memphis super-group of sorts known as The Fuzz in 2013, which included former members of 90s scuzz-punks Action Family and Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments. Playing 2013s Goner-Fest 10 and subsequently releasing a self-titled album of garage-ragers on Italys Munster Records later that year, The Fuzz (not to be confused with Ty Segalls band of the same name) expanded Harlan T. Bobos musical frame of reference nicely.
A History of Violence by Harlan T. Bobo
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