Harkonen - Shake Harder Boy

If you can imagine a band managing to blend a fucked up musical fusion of AC/DC and hardcore [I can’t], Harkonen is undeniably it. With Shake Harder Boy – undoubtedly a command to what they want their music to do to you – this no-frills, workingman hard rock trio carve another denser-than-concrete Hydrahead release. Although the famed Boston label has forged its way with flagship metal releases, Harkonen opts for the road less traveled with pure hard rock as its riffs sound like cinderblocks and vocals corrode more than rust. Although Harkonen hit their best mark with the linear hard rock ear lashings of “Caseydriver,” they also have the ability to sift artier leanings into their onslaught of outraged rock. The subtle art-rock backdrop to “Easy Prey” offers a deviation from the heavy-handed one dimension Harkonen explore with depth. Shake Harder Boy may be divinely unoriginal, but its blue collar hard rock does indeed shed blood and gnash its teeth against all pretense and elitism. And in an indie-rock world where pompousness is often louder than the music, Harkonen at least attempt to strip its pretentious stances back to prove rock can still be heavy and not heady. [www.hydrahead.com]