Artist: Haram
Album: Haram
Label: Lovitt Records
Tracks: 11
Review By: Jacob “Forty-Two??!” Gehman

You can tell me that a band does stuff that is like another band and I’ll think you crazy. For example, everyone keeps saying that The Rocket Summer is just a Dashboard Confessional rip-off. So it was a pleasant surprise to find out that The Rocket Summer actually knows how to play their instruments and write songs. Other people say that mewithoutYou totally takes after Fugazi. For this album the name Sonic Youth keep drifting around.

And wouldn’t you know, that comparison is actually very accurate. While not every moment of every song feels Sonic Youth inspired, there are quite a few moments on this album where I could swear Thurston Moore was lending a hand. Haram is a bit more simplistic than Sonic Youth is, and overall they tend to be harder with a sort of Fugazi murk to them.

As much as I want bands to think for themselves and carve their own unique niche in the musical world, I would much rather hear a band like Haram, who can be favorably compared to Sonic Youth or Fugazi, than so many bands who are re-treading the flavor of the day emo or indie rock. It sounds like Haram really believe in the music they turn out, which helps them out, too. This is definitely not a bad album to pick up if you are into the whole Sonic Youth/Fugazi thing.