Though
the bass has always been my passion, like every other cocky musician, I have occasionally
attempted to widen my musical horizons via other instruments. During my senior
year of high school, I once climbed behind a drum kit onstage to accompany a
friend in covering “Little Round Mirrors” by Harvey Danger. I was able to hold
a steady beat through to the end of the song, and my friend killed it on the
piano, but a lack of monitors (and practice) made our performance rather
unlistenable. Needless to say, I have since avoided drumming for an audience.
Although
I may have butchered it in the past, “Little Round Mirrors” remains an
incredible song in my mind (when Harvey Danger is performing it, of course),
and my favorite tune off of their final LP, Little
by Little....[1]
When I discovered the band had previously assembled an EP around that very
track, I roamed the internet until I could purchase a physical copy. Three
weeks later, I popped the disc into my car’s CD player and began exploring this
small collection of music that speaks volumes about one of my favorite artists.
Unlike
most EPs, the tracks that make up Little
Round Mirrors have been collected from multiple recording sessions and live
performances, forming a sort of Harvey Danger collage. Rather than a single
image, this record presents a larger impression of Harvey Danger during the
time period of recording their final LP, Little
By Little… As well as the title track, Little
Round Mirrors includes a live David Bowie cover, an original composition
with a reorganized lineup, and two live cuts of songs from Where Have the Merrymakers Gone? which feature reimagined arrangements
and altered lyrics.
On
paper, the track list looks like a pile of tunes thrown together at the last
minute, but as one spin will tell you, there is method infused in the maddening
shape of Little Round Mirrors. Every piece is focused in a soft light,
letting the energy flow from emotion rather than performance, a fact
complemented by the prominent presence of keys in every song. Unifying the
sound in such a manner lets each tune stand apart, giving its own view of
Harvey Danger through a different lens: “We Drew the Maps” focuses on the
contributions of bassist Aaron Huffman outside of his usual role, while “Oh!
You Pretty Things” shows us the band working in the frame of another artist’s
songwriting while spotlighting their newly-added organist, Rob Knop (who ostensibly
does Bowie’s piece justice). Similarly, the last two tracks are old HD tunes
reinterpreted by the band at a more mature moment in their timeline, fearlessly
filtering the past into the present.
Obviously,
Harvey Danger grabs a whole handful of risk in releasing such a collection of
music, but as Nelson puts it, “The only reason to be in Harvey Danger is for
the pleasure we ourselves derive from it.”[2] Indeed, their audacity
presents us with some exciting new perspectives, especially on the penultimate
track “Wrecking Ball.” Although the song remains as quiet as its initial
release on Where Have All the Merrymakers
Gone?, the instrumentation has been completely rearranged. Drums and bass
have been swapped for a full but simple piano, and the cello dominates the
atmosphere, sweeping through harmonies that bring the sadness in the song to
life. This new instrumental background lets Sean Nelson’s vocal tap into the
deepest reaches of sorrow, so that his lamentation of “Liberties I’ve taken
take me nowhere” rings like the very voice of Grief itself.[3] This version of “Wrecking
Ball” takes the ideas of a young, brash Harvey Danger and imbues it with the
trials, mistakes, and lessons of their years as a band, giving the song both
new meaning and new life.
There
are a ton of aspects to explore on this record, but no song stands more multifaceted
than the opening track. Emphatically kicking off the EP, “Little Round Mirrors”
is a dynamo of sound and sentiment that Nelson calls “one of the best things [Harvey
Danger] ever did.”[4]
Jeff Lin’s piano rolls like quiet waves over Michael Welke’s driving drums,
while Aaron and a complementary horn section texture the piece with harmony and
countermelodies against Nelson’s emphatic vocal. The lyrics of the song are
deftly descriptive, as Nelson dissects the ideas of celebrity and worship in
the music scene. He bites at the idea of fame, marking those “shooting star[s]”
we fixate on as “hardly even worth footnotes in your memoir.” His opening image
of a teenaged fan lying “all alone on the floor,” simply listening to “bands
practicing” without ever being part of one, resonates as a reminder to avoid
the “surrogate connection” to music and instead take part in it, or otherwise
the floor is “where you’re going to stay.”[5] As both centerpiece and namesake,
“Little Round Mirrors” sets the tone for this EP in instrumentation and
emotion, and with one spin, I think you will understand why I was willing to
embarrass myself behind the drum kit just to be part of it.
Whatever
you take from it, there is no denying that Little
Round Mirrors is a record with character. It offers to the listener an
unusual approach to the band’s music, presenting a group of songs originally set
to stand apart and unifying them through dynamic, instrumentation, and passion.
The boldness of such a decision borders on impudence, but as Nelson points out,
“there’s a conscience in our music,”[6] and one listen will prove that
humanity to be an essential ingredient in the sound of Harvey Danger. So
whether you’re a long-time fan or hold but a vague appreciation for “FlagpoleSitta,” consider each resonating note of this EP as an invitation to view the
world of Harvey Danger from a perspective few artists are willing to acknowledge,
and even fewer willing to share.
Tunes to Check Out:
1) Little Round Mirrors
2) Radio Silence (live)
3) Oh! You Pretty Things (live)
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