Notes
'One of the 5 best albums I've heard this year.'--Tim Bruhns, Blink Music (Cambridge, MA). 'Not unlike Captain Beefheart meeting Chris Isaak, The Atomic Harvesters, vanguards of lounge country, have reason to celebrate the release of their first full length. This album hasn?t left my CD player since I got it. Don't pass this by.'--BJ Ray, The Milky Way (Boston, MA) 'This is good @#%!'--Dan Millen, Harper's Ferry (Allston, MA) Ethereal vibraphone, smooth trombone, sweet saxophone, twangy steel guitar, buckets, frying pans, accordions, jazz bass, and sardonic baritone vocals create the darkly captivating soundscapes of LOUNGE COUNTRY. Combining Hank Williams with Tom Waits, Robbie Fulks with Cake, and Bill Monroe with Billie Holliday, The Atomic Harvesters are possibly the most entertaining-and certainly the sexiest-group of urban hillbillies Boston has ever seen. Since their start in November 2002, the Harvesters have built a loyal fan base, playing catchy but harmonically complex songs with funny lyrics and a truly distinctive style. Songwriter Shane Hamilton bases his lyrics in the long country tradition of songs about the ironies of rural American life in an age of industrial machinery. Odes to the sexual allure of the Ford Model T, ironic laments of the passing of old trains and old tractors, and the comparative value of snowmobiles and wives recall classic folk and country songs by artists such as Woody Guthrie, Johnny Cash, and The Stanley Brothers. A sparkling wit animates several absurd songs on this album, such as the local club hits 'Spork,' 'Jim's Swedish Love Song,' and the wry cover of Bon Jovi's 'You GIve Love a Bad Name.' Serious songs have also gained local attention at live shows, particularly 'Truck Drivin' Sonofabitch,' which adds a new twist to a long line of truckin' songs by such artists as Dave Dudley, Red Sovine, Del Reeves, and Dick Curless.
