Nai Harvest

Hold Open My Head EP

Written by: PP on 17/04/2014 00:08:19

While fellow scribes AP and BV are raving about the renaissance of 'heritage rock' for the time being, I've spent the last year or two observing how the Title Fight revolution is taking the scene by a storm. Dreamy, floaty, atmospheric rock bands that find themselves somewhere in the middle of a triangle whose vertices consist of post-hardcore, punk, and indie rock, are flourishing and reproducing at an almost alarmingly high rate. The saturation point hasn't been reached yet, despite bands like Turnover, Citizen, Ivy League TX, Hot Damn, Light Years, Half Hearted Hero and countless others re-interpreting grunge-style melodies into something more modern and relevant on albums that sound increasingly like each other. Add to that group Nai Harvest, a duo from Sheffield, UK, whose latest EP "Hold Open My Head" practically references all aforementioned bands in one way or another, yet it still sounds fresh and endearing.

Nai Harvest consists only of a guitarist and a drummer, which means that their expression is a slightly lighter and a more dreamy version of Title Fight or Daylight. They still rely on similarly eerily prolonged vocal patterns for the songs, with opener "Rush" being the highlight on the record with its surprisingly fast tempo despite its lightweight atmosphere. It's a sound that nonetheless drives forward with convincing decisiveness, even if the whole soundscape feels like it's floating from the ceiling supported only by a thin set of strings on its sides. The title track, on the other hand, is a quieter and more contemplative in its nature, but it still continues to impress when the chorus arrives through its experimental approach to post-hardcore, punk and indie rock. These genres intertwine each other seamlessly, leaving little doubt that each has been an influence at one stage to the band, but at the same time without none of them taking fully over. It's a balancing act, and a very good one at that, which is a key reason why Nai Harvest succeed in leaving a memorable impression after just four tracks and fourteen minutes.

The question remains how many more such bands do we have space for? I've named more than a couple in this review and searching for any of them in our database will reveal at least double the amount of reviews from similar bands. I'm nonetheless convinced that Nai Harvest sound better than so many of their competitors that they have a good chance of representing the UK well in this style alongside the likes of Basement and Hot Damn.

Download: Rush, I Don't Even Know
For the fans of: Daylight, Title Fight, Nothing, Turnover, Basement, Light Years
Listen: Facebook

Release date 04.03.2014
Topshelf Records

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