The Harvey Steel Show
We're Living On Borrowed Cheeze EP
No label name

The Harvey Steel Show home page tells us that the band members '...hails from the planet Jupiter... As they (the Harvey Steel show) left Jupiter's atmosphere as usual to play a concert at Venus (the planet), the band experienced a kind of time-lapse video of their home planet being destroyed by war, natural disasters and a blood thirsty god-like figure. They were thrown out of the cosmic balance and entered a parallel universe (our universe) and grew into a life as humanoid beings on this planet (Tellus) where they eventually had translated their Jupiterian music to earthly instruments and influences from earths musical history, now under the name Harvey Steel & the Harvey Steel tribute band. ... They still create what they consider pop music. Although it brings forth crucified psychedelic rabbits looking for polkadots, a female backing vocalist that at times may seem to be made out of cardboard and other bizzare events, just listen to the music and find out that pop melodies are plentyfold. After 3 years on earth they changed the band's name back to the Harvey Steel show and are starting to get back to the old Jupiterian days. Join the band as they describe their journey in notes, rhythms and words!'

We might add that the Show members is clad in some strange and colourful Jupiterian garments, at least when performing at small nice clubs in Oslo, Trondheim and probably elsewhere. They have issued a limited edition cassette and offer some digital live recordings and other stuff on the home page, too. Otherwise this brand new seven inch vinyl EP is the Show's first physical release. Six short tracks; the one close to a title track only lasts 12 seconds. As mentioned above the Show deals with pop music, but some musical elements from Jupiter seem to have remained as well. The opening track "Dreamingly Like You" starts as a nice hummable electric piano-led pop dish, not unlike the Oslo more or less underground pop scene of yesterday and today. It even includes a neat trumpet solo halfway through. I'm not sure if the break before the chorus and the chorus itself are quite of this world, though. The final track "Death Is A Flower/The Green Cloud" also starts as a fine pop song, more on the ballad side this time, with lots of harmony vocals and stuff until a very distorted guitar wipes everything away for a little while before we go back to the start.

The Show has picked up some blues rhythms and rhymes as well, not least in "Freaks Are Selfish" (and shellfish, too) with nice rough guitar and piano interplay and even a short fitting distorted trumpet solo. "God's The Elevator/I'm The Revelator" follows the same paths, to some extent reminding of a pretty Captain Beefheart, another one who lost his earthly connection occasionally. "Searching For Names" comes closest to sounds from another planet, a quite far out cosmic storm; of the kind psychedelic and kosmisches bands have been aiming at for about the last 49 years. Harvey and company's lyrics seem to be of the hilarious kind, or maybe more correct, tongue in cheeze:

Went looking for a boat in a ball of hay
Found the needle, and the damage done
went looking for myself
but i found Neil Young

A great first encounter with the extra terrestrials for me. They probably make an even more profound impression caught live in action.

Copyright © 2015 JP