There’s nothing I like more than music that challenges me. A band that comes along and literally records whatever the hell they want and my or anybody else’s opinions be damned. Harvey Milk is one such band, and this self-titled re-release is a clear example of not only how much they don’t give a fuck but also just how gifted a group they really are.
This album has the band in a much more experimental phase than their last studio offering and it’s a welcome phase. So few albums, even good ones, keep you guessing from song to song and even fewer deliver on every surprise. Harvey Milk move effortlessly from Melvins’ style heaviness to darker Godspeedyoublackemperor type ambient tones with maybe a dash of Neurosis and Eyehategod thrown in for good measure. They also mimic those bands in that they transcend genre completely.
Harvey Milk opens with “Blueberry Dookie” a slow and plodding riff of incredible weight that bashes down on your skull while the vocals gargle out like they’re being sung through mud. Not being content with just that Harvey Milk flows into “Plastic Eggs” which intros for nearly two minutes with just a guitar ring before launching into a heavy doom style riff for the remaining five minutes. From there the music literally goes anywhere and everywhere before dumping you out on the other side.
Huge riffs pop up from all places, played over flailing drums and deep throbbing base tones. At times the songs seemed designed simply to mess you your head as with “My Father’s Life” a nearly ten minute opus that opens with a quiet one note guitar sound alongside even quieter vocals. Without warning the floor drops out as another crushingly slow and swamp like heavy fuzzed out guitar sound kicks you right in the nuts. One particular song I loved was “F.S.T.P.” which reminds me of an old Helmet record slowed down to about half speed.
Listening to Harvey Milk is akin to getting beaten up by a robot with sixty pounds fists that thrives on thrashing you really, really slowly. This is the kind of music that, much like the shark in Jaws, shakes you, tenderizes you and down you go. What has allowed Harvey Milk to remain a step ahead of other experimental heavy bands is that they follow no formula and that allows the music to remain interesting. I know I harp on this a lot but I love when a band puts out an album that demands to be heard as one piece of music. We live in such a quick fast easy to digest world that a record that’s also an artistic statement is incredibly rare.
Harvey Milk has been kicking around off and on for nearly twenty years and have yet to repeat themselves. Musically speaking the band is constantly playing around with styles and influences and that has given them a record of releases that’s beyond reproach. If the world of music isn’t ready to give Harvey Milk their rightful place in the hallowed halls it doesn’t matter, they’ll smash, crush and beat their way in.
