Harvey Milk
Special Wishes
2006
Upon listening to the very first minutes of the opening track, “I’ve Got a Love” I almost decided not to continue listening to Special Wishes. My fragile ears that had been coddled by sad-bastard indie rock and folk just weren’t prepared for the crawling sludge-splattered riffs and tortured, moaning vocals of Harvey Milk. So, I guess you could file these guys under metal, but nothing about this band completely fits the traditional sense of the genre.
I suppose I find it hard to pigeonhole these folks as southern sludge metal because it doesn’t seem like they create heavy music for the sake of being heavy. Instead there is utilization of sorrowful violin, haunting organs and times where Creston Spiers is able to simply sing as opposed to painfully grunt. Of course there is also the bombastic rock/grunge excess and soaring vocals. This juxtaposition doesn’t come off as ironic as other metal bands might intend. Instead, everything Harvey Milk inflicts on us is emotionally powerful and evocative, giving the disparate and seemingly unrelated sounds a bizarre cohesion.
The phenomenal closing track, “Mother’s Day” is an excellent example of why this record is a masterpiece. As mentioned previously, the song begins with melancholy violin and organ leading into a gloomy, slow motion solo of crunching guitars and drums. Spiers’ vocals gradually build to a steady roar by the end of the track, escalating with the music. Ultimately the song culminates into a huge cacophony of dreary southern rock and pure raw feeling. Special Wishes has proven to be one of the greatest heavy albums of the decade. -R.C.
Imagine taking a bunch of Top 40 pop songs and turning them into slow, super-heavy rock ballads… you’d probably end up with something that sounds very similar to this album. Harvey Milk has a unique ability to think up catchy melodies while uncompromisingly taking its time to express the songs’ lyrics. The result is a rather refreshing listening experience that builds up to the record’s greatest track, “Mother’s Day.” Not a spectacular album, but certainly solid. - Phil
This is an underrated metal record and Carr did a kickass job of reviewing it. Nice work buddy.
ReplyDeleteWhat did you guys think of my assessment in saying that they have slow, trudged-out melodies that sound sort of like Top 40 hits if sped up?
ReplyDeleteWhich songs were you thinking of? Because, I dunno, most of this has a lot of riffage and soloing which isn't exactly a pop hook. I do think a lot of the tunes here could be sped up and still be melodically pleasing though.
ReplyDeleteI more meant the vocal melodies, which mostly all seemed to fit this description I thought.
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