It's sleazy, tarted-up and taking a walk on the wild side. The guys in Girl Harbor seem to remember that the term rock 'n' roll originated as jive for sex. And their songs ooze with the sweat of the Holy Trinity: Sex and Drugs and Rock ‘N’ Roll. Or is that a quartet? At any rate, Girl Harbor is. And they play their own brand of music that’s reminiscent of the NY Dolls and others that carried on that tradition of punk ‘n roll that was born and bred in New York. Nothing all that new, but it’s easy to screw this stuff up and come off as poseurs (remember Hanoi Rocks, D-Generation?). But this ain’t no glam band, Jeff Mensch’s guitar spits out nasty licks as he beats viciously on his big hollow-body while bass man Jens Carstensen appears to be in a world of his own, letting the music carry him to some unknown universe as he lays down the lines to take us along. Kicking out the jams and slamming the skins is Greg Altman. And up front is Jimmy Spoiler, strutting the stage like a tomcat in heat, seemingly taken away by the utter urgency of this music. He calls to mind Dick Manitoba in the early days with the Dictators when all that mattered was girls, getting high and the beat of the music.
|
