Indie Rock N Ramble w/Lucia & Glynn
Up Close and On Fire with S and K Ep 16 Fall of Man and Harpo

HARPO

Harpo have been in existence since 1974, initially as a cover band back in the days when you could play bars up and down the East Coast and into Canada and make a decent living doing it. (Yeah, there was a time when that was possible.) Their Facebook page’s biography displays a litany of all the trials and tribulations the band has gone through over the past 44 years going on 45 – personnel changes, car accidents that sidelined their singer for over a year, breakups, reunions, and a few independently released albums. Chances are, if you lived in Pennsyvania, you’re familiar with the name even though you may have never heard a single note of the music. When the band was originally making records in the Eighties, they would have fit in very well with the string of hair bands that dominated MTV back in the day – but no major label ever picked them up. This week we highlight cuts from their album Harpo Live: Go Heavy Or Go Home, originally released in 1997 and reissued over a decade later by the Italian label Time Warp Records (supposedly a grey-market “bootleg” label if Discogs.com is correct). Songs like “Chain Reaction”, “Tuff Love”, and “Tumblin’ Down” give good indication of how radio-ready Harpo was determined to make their music throughout their long career.

Highlighted Tracks: Tuff Love, Too Much Is Just Enough, Hearts Cold.

FALL OF MAN

Fall Of Man are a relatively new band from Los Angeles, CA. They formed in the early 2000’s and first rehearsed as an instrumental trio while they seeked out a frontman for their band. Enter, ironically, a frontwoman in Erica Barile, who had been hanging out with the band at their rehearsals since day one (she was friends with most of the band at the time), then started filling in at band practice while they searched for a permanent singer. Not long afterward, she ended up being the defacto vocalist. Imagine Evanesence without the piano, the ego, and the penchant for mopey goth ballads, or even Flyleaf without the preaching, and you’ll have a decent idea of what Fall of Man sounds like. Or better yet, you could listen to the highlighted tracks we present from their most recent release, the 2016 EP Hallways And Doors. The band is presently working on their third full length album.

Highlighted Tracks: Hallways And Doors, Lullaby, Breathe