September 14, 2004 | Posted by mark at 2:00 PM

Singles Day

Har Mar Superstar
Har Mar Superstar - DUI. The lead single from Har Mar's new album, The Handler, DUI is fairly indicitative of what to expect from the whole affair. Still mostly a douchebag, Har Mar hasn't really grown up very much. Instead, he's simply gotten better at whatever it is he does, which now is leaning more towards A.M. Gold territory than the Prince-on-a-purple-unicorn disco of his first effort. Plus, he lost the Ron Jeremy mustache (though kept the mullet) to knock a few notches off of the sleeze factor.

Try as I might to hate this song, I can't. It's fun, catchy and silly. There's not much to it, and while it's basically Justin Timberprank, it frankly isn't that bad. Go figure. I hated him the first time around, but for whatever reason I'm behind this one. Oh, and it's not about drinking and driving. It's about calling up the ladies when you're all f'd up. Which is something I have a wicked history of. Bad ideas. The album came out Tuesday [Buy It], and he plays 1650 in Los Angeles on Friday night.

Rubber Factory
The Black Keys - 10 a.m. Automatic. I saw these folks last year, opening up for Beck at this rainy outdoor ampitheater in Boston. Dude shreds on guitar. I mean, they've got an uphill battle to fight, being the other two person blues/rock combo. The real difference here being that the fella here can actually play the drums. No offense or anything.

Anyway, this is a nice little blues rock song, and the lead single off of their latest - Rubber Factory [Buy It]. I doubt we'll be hearing this in maximum rotation like the White Stripes, but it's a step in the right direction. Less self-conciously bluesy like their earlier stuff, but still all fuzzed out. Nice beat, good riff. I personally just wonder what these people have against the bass guitar.

Comments

Your right, that Har Mar is totally catchy. Like a Len song. I think I'm getting cavities from it.

But what exactly makes Señor Har Mar a douchebag anyways? Have to admit this is the first I've ever heard of the dude.

Posted by: Trachalio at September 14, 2004 2:16 PM

I love Len!!!! That was such a great disc.... Wish they'd have another...

But yeah, I just can't get into Har Mar, maybe if I saw his live show...

Posted by: Shane Bryant at September 14, 2004 2:20 PM

Apparently Len does have a new one coming out but they've been sayin' that on their website for a while now. No idea what to expect from them though.

Posted by: Trachalio at September 14, 2004 2:31 PM

re: no bass- they don't need no safety net!

Posted by: penni at September 14, 2004 2:40 PM

Weird, i found it really easy to hate Har Mar Superdouche and his new song.

Posted by: esco at September 14, 2004 3:21 PM

Har Mar is not a douche. You know who is a douche? All the cheesy ass R&B artists of today who Har Mar personifies. The difference is his music is supposed to make you smile and there's is actually supposed to turn you on.

I might be biased cause I've seen him more times then I can remember as well as his two previous bands but I don't think so.

MPLS Indie

Posted by: mplsindie at September 14, 2004 6:06 PM

i had to chime in on the har mar bit. before i knew sean tillman as har mar i was definitely a fan of sean na na. and when har mar's self-titled album released in 2000 i loved it right away, but excepting the first three or four tracks (who doesn't love: 'kick it submarine style') it all got tired pretty quick. most recently i saw har mar at the Siren Festival and it was terrible - though i set much blame on poor sound quality.
this track really does sound like len, and is totally intolerable to my ears.

Posted by: jc at September 14, 2004 10:21 PM

The Black Keys are really gritty and great. Closer to the blues than the WS is fine by me, and they're on the true blue Fat Possum label!
Can't wait to see them in concert.

Posted by: Matthew at September 15, 2004 9:07 AM

That Har Mar track is definitely jocking David Naughton's 70's hit "Makin It"

Posted by: abelincolnjr at September 17, 2004 5:42 PM

Judging an album by its cover... Har Mar sucks... but I just downloaded the track and it's fuggin' fantastic!

Posted by: brooks at September 20, 2004 9:34 PM
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