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Review: Jack Foley
THE trouble with... Harry is that she has arrived a little too
late, really.
Yet another female artist who is not afraid to use sex and good
looks as a tool to garner publicity, Harry (aka Victoria Harrison)
arrives on the crest of the rock-electronica wave with mixed results.
Think Transvision Vamp's Wendy James, or even the lead singer
of The Divinals (I Touch Myself), for what to expect, and you
might realise that the Harry sound is one which owes much to the
Eighties rock/synth movement.
There are guilty pleasures, of course, such as in her exploitative
use of underwear as outerwear, or the sexy playfulness of lyrics
such as 'you stay in bed, and I run out the door', and
'I'm hungry without you', on Taste Like Kisses, which
hint at the vamp inside the girl.
The music, too, sounds much better than some of the vocals, with
guitars very much to the fore, and a few beats and loops used
to interesting effect, lending the album some crisp production
values.
But the main trouble with Harry is, well, Harry herself. Too
many of the tracks sound mundane, with the vocals doing little
to suggest they haven't been lifted from another era.
Her decision to revive Salt 'n' Pepa's Push It, a cheesy
80s 'classic', and give it a more guitar-driven edge is indicative
of the jumbled feel of the album as a whole, with far too many
tracks prompting the question, 'why?'
For every good track, such as the feisty 10 Things, or
the serene So Real, there are equally bad ones, such as
opening track, Goddess on the Floor, or the risible Heroin
- which really belongs on the soundtrack of a forgettable Eighties
Brat-pack movie (and we're not talking Breakfast Club).
In fact, the most interesting thing about Harry is the fact that
she has already courted controversy by dating one of Kylie's ex's,
and has provoked the wrath of Warner Bros, for attempting to call
herself Dirty Harry.
Alas, attempts to 'make our day', musically, have proved a little
off-target!
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1. Goddess on the Floor
2. 10 Things
3. So Real
4. Follow Me
5. Valley
6. Underground
7. Eye
8. Push It (Real Good)
9. I Do What I Do
10. Taste Like Kisses
11. Heroin
12. Nothing Really Matters
13. Imagination
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