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Harmful If Swallowed

Allergy EP

Written by: PP on 13/03/2014 00:38:43

Here's another release from 2013 that slipped by me, this one due to an erroneous physical CD that wouldn't budge in my computer's CD player for whatever reason. Luckily what I heard in an online stream by Harmful If Swallowed piqued my interest enough to request an additional copy, and so here we are today with a review of "Allergy" EP. The band originates from Los Angeles, and so the California influence is vivid in their punk rock sound.

What I did not expect to find, however, were close parallels to the Swedish punk rock scene. Bands like Misconduct, Adjusted and Millencolin share a very similar sound to the melodicore offered on this record, meaning clean, polished vocals and big, chord based guitars drenched in clean melodies. Somewhere in the background are hints of Pennywise style skate punk as well, though the guitars are of course less heavy and more melody oriented instead. The vocals can be a little on the whiny side (see: "Sabrina Little Angel" or "Hateful"), but occasionally they impress through brighter melodies like on the title-track, which should take you back to the good old Millencolin days from the 90s. On the other hand, "Hateful" sounds like it could've easily been on the latest Misconduct record, and the slightly negative, whiny sound of the song pulls it down.

Whenever Harmful If Swallowed concentrate on the brighter songs like "Lindsey" they are at their best. The EP is a mixed bag because of the happy/sad contrast between the good/meh songs, and so I'm not ready to proscribe the band for great success just yet. There's a few catchy tracks on offer, though, so perhaps we're heading there in the future.

Download: Allergy, Lindsey
For the fans of: Misconduct, Millencolin, Losing Must, Pennywise
Listen: Facebook

Release date 15.06.2013
Self-Released