Music Review: New Politics "Harlem"

New Politics

Harlem

Album: A Bad Girl InHarlem

Year: 2012

          David Boyd is an average person enjoying life and getting into trouble in the  random “Harlem.”

       A chorus of “hey’s” and an energetic bass open the single, setting a chipper tone. After work, he stops off at the pet store to pick up food for his dog and some toys.  He’ll sit outside on the porch, watching the cars go by during the summertime. He’ll see a couple of his neighbors chatting on their porches, too. (“I spend my money on the regular miracles/Just like you like me like everybody elseUp on the sun looking sad and beautiful/Just like you like me like everybody else.”)

           In the chorus, he gets into a song on the radio and blasts it. He dances along to it. In between songs, he smokes weed. (“When it gets loud, I turn it up/Shake it like a bad girl up in Harlem/When it's too hot, I light it up/Light it up yeah, smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.”)

        An airplane flying low in the sky caused to put his wallet inside his socks and race to the bathroom. He chases them away by turning up Whitesnake. (“Here come the jets, hide my money in your tube socks/Run like me, like hell, like everybody else/Hair metal on a Japanese boom box/Kicks like you like me like everybody else.”)

        In the second chorus, he adds he likes to keep things interesting. However, he has to reject a nice girl. She’s far too pure for him. (“When it gets loud, I turn it up…when it gets soft, I shake it up/Shake it like a bad girl up in Harlem/You're so sweet, but I like it rough/Light it up yeah smoke em if you got em.”)

      He makes a grainy video on an outdated cellphone of him making out with a girl. (“Making a movie on the couch with a flip phone/Just like you like I like fingers in your mouth/Up on the sun playing drums with a bleached bone/Just like you like me like everybody else.”)

          The first chorus is sung again to close the single.

       Boyd’s shouting vocals, in its attempts to misbehave are merely rattling pots and pans. He’s an immature rebel who still believes that swearing in front of the parents should give him credibility.

       The non-threatening “Harlem” with its scattered thoughts and broken lyrics, is a failed art project put to music.