With so many bands submerging themselves under layer of synthesizers and loop effects (like so many electro-pop outfits that performed on the Orange Stage this year), it’s great to see that Austin Harlem are actually playing their own instruments and enjoying their own sound on stage. Coming from the audience, I think its safe to say that feelings were mutual. The rain let up for a moment as the local trio personified their low-fi, scratchy garage rock. Early sound issues pervaded the set but Harlem soon turned up the adrenal levels with new songs assumedly to appear on their upcoming debut for Matador records such as the Motown inspired “Someday Soon,” and rambunctious standards from last year’s Free Drugs like “Psychedelic Tits”. Sometimes verging on the sloppy side garage-ness, Harlem peaked energy as the rain once again began to fall later on in the set to soak the heads and backs of onlookers. At one point the characteristically baited themselves by mocking, “What will the bloggers say?” Well, we say this: Harlem is the greatest shit show on the planet.
