The Harry MacIntosh Project have already been described as ‘the Marmite of Music’, which I suppose means I need to find my own hookline simile. Listening to this, their latest offering, it’s not hard to discern why their reception is so polarized.
‘Error Terror’ is a manic slice of mathy post-punk , the wild vocal style evoking Pulled Apart by Horses, only less screamy. Elsewhere, there are elements of Fugazi colliding with, well, name it. The lyrics bounce here and there almost as much as the music, making it difficult to get a handle on what they’re about (the songs or the band).
‘…and this cat’ is in the same vein, but is simply too messy and disjointed to be successful. The wide-eyed goth horror shtick and the lurching between styles and tempos is just… nasty, and the less said about the silly end section of ‘Mouldy Water’ the better. And herein lies the problem. When cooking, you have to be careful what kinds of ingredients you combine. The press release lists fused elements of jazz, punk and progressive rock. It’s rather like chocolate, cheese and raw eggs, and The Harry MacIntosh Project seem more interested in throwing them all together and seeing what emerges than they do in weighing the ingredients and honing the recipe.
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Yet for all that, there are some great moments to be found here. Brief and fleeting they may be, but the ephemerality only adds to the appreciation. Credit to the band for being adventurous, daring and different.
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