Harper Blynn Played Mercury Lounge [photos]

Photo credit: JW Byer

With their unique brand of pulsing rock music saturated with sensitive and passionate lyrics, Harper Blynn (@harperblynn) is back, not that they were ever gone, with a new album titled Busy Hands.  These new songs were the focus of their headlining set at Mercury Lounge.

“Ok, we don’t have that long to play so we’re just gonna keep playing songs,” J. (the Blynn half of the equation) said as way of explanation for their lack of banter, “I hope that’s okay with you.”

Their sound was as tight as ever, including their undeniably consistent vocal chops, and drummer Sarab Singh’s handling of a drumset seems to have only gotten better and better.  Their energy, however, was less captivating than it has been at other performances, and they competed against the excessive chattiness of the crowd for most of their short set.

The exceptions were during a solo song by Pete (the Harper half) called “High End Melody” — the audience stopped to listen as he crooned, “So show me a sign ‘cause all these broken bones can’t be mine”. And later, when they unleashed their much-adored cover of Beyonce’s “Halo” (recently released as a single), the audience was like putty in their hands. Blynn’s impeccable vocals command attention, and more than reward the audience for granting it, as he belts out the lyrics with vocal flourishes that perfectly rival Beyonce’s own. Not to mention, the foray into Dirty Projectors‘ staccato vocal notes inserted into the middle of the song is just plain thrilling.

Lacking the time to do a proper encore, they played up the absence of ceremony by staying put, encouraging the audience to pretend they had to cheer them back to the stage.  They closed with two songs off of their 2010 EP (“Start All Over” and “Models/Dancers”), which struck a chord of familiarity, hooking the audience in the way that they should have been hooked all along.

Their set was preceded by Beca, a young woman perfectly fit for pop radio and dance clubs, clad in tight black leather spandex and working the stage with a prowess that would turn anyone’s head.  Her soaring vocals proved she has more than just moves, and her songs are as catchy as those from many successful pop divas with a similar sound and arguably less skill.