Artist: Harbours
Album: Remainders
Genre: Screamo

A lot of my friend’s think I have an atrocious taste in music. I feel like they’re really missing the point, they hear bands like Circle Takes The Square or La Dispute and they hear nonsense, noise crafted into some semblance of a song. They don’t realize that there is so much more to this sort of music than technicality, it’s an expression, a work of art; a dirty, disgusting, misunderstood work of art, but art nonetheless. I will admit that it’s not for everybody, some people really look for exceptional musicianship, some people just aren’t into things that are quite that aggressive and outwardly passionate. I’m not one of those people. Even still, despite my self-professed understanding of the post-hardcore/screamo genre, when I first listened to this album, it didn’t quite make sense to me, I wasn’t sure where these guys were coming from, when I first listened to it, I perceived it as a low budget attempt to make music, done at a home studio, due to a combination of a lack of funds, and an absolute necessity to get these songs out, which might be partially true, but this music can’t be summed up quite that easily. There is much more depth to it, if the only bits of this album being judged were the recording quality and musicianship, this album would fall sorely short of the mark, but the point of this music isn’t always especially evident upon the first listen. Harbours has something to say, they need to get something off their chest, and the Remainders EP is their outlet, the minor details don’t really make any difference.

As far as screamo goes, Harbours probably isn’t going to go down in history alongside the likes of Pg. 99, but they are putting forth a valiant effort, the album accomplishes what it needs to, and that in itself is commendable. The beginning of the album is a bit shaky, in fact, it takes until the final song “Ghost Weather” before the band finally starts to come into their own. That song is certainly the most notable on the album, it still has a few weeks points, but it certainly seems as the rest of the album was a warm up for this track. One thing that really does bother me throughout this album though, is the drums, they are very obviously programmed, and poorly so. Maybe this is only noticeable because I’ve been a drummer for the better part of my life, or because I’ve spent way too much time in the studio over the years, or maybe they just do sound too artificial, but regardless of the reason, it does bother me; the snare sounds unnatural, and the sustain and decay on all the drums just isn’t real. There is no variation in the dynamics, no hint of emotion, or natural human flaw, all of which are resounding themes of this album, and of the band itself, so their absence is made even more apparent. This, of course, is not the fault of the band, this was a production decision, and it simply wasn’t executed very well. But when it comes down to it, the band is growing, the riffs need some time to mature, the vocals could use some fine tuning, they sound far too strained, and at times, a bit contrived, but through all the technical imperfection, the emotion is there, and I suppose when it comes down to the gritty bits, that’s really the point.

Overall there may be some little quality related nuances that mar the final product of this album, but I’m quite sure Harbours couldn’t care any less, in fact, they probably wear the imperfection proudly, like a scar; something to be proud of, they don’t need to be perfect, they don’t want to be. And I have to respect them for that. Harbours still has a lot of growing to do as a band, this album isn’t likely to be their most notable album, but as relatively young newcomers to the scene, the potential is there, I can’t wait to see what the future holds for this band.

Score: 6/10
Review written by: Michael Hogan

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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