Considering all of the quality colleges located in North Carolina, it’s a wonder this Charlotte-based quintet went with the band name HARVARD. Why not WAKE FOREST, DUKE, or CHAPEL HILL? I guess they were going for the best of the best, and surely “Harvard” would indicate such. Well, if Harvard University were to exist as a musical entity, this band might as well work for them. Their music is smart and moody, built on a foundation of layered, wall-of-sound guitar playing in the vein of CIRCA SURVIVE. Not surprisingly, The Inevitable And I was produced by Brian McTernan, a man who has breathed life into many albums of this nature. HARVARD never gets quite as loud and dominating as CIRCA, though, instead opting for quieter songs that often evolve into expansive salvos (“French Girls,” “What We Had,” “Hallucinating The Horse”). They are at their best when writing more compact songs, such as “Memory Police,” where the quiet-to-loud dynamic is more quickly realized (and remembered) rather than spread out over the course of five or six minutes. “Mister T(th)” is another song where the shorter duration highlights how well this band can perform with more succinct songwriting.. Think KADDISFLY if they had ever mastered the art of packaging their creative juices into 3-4 minute songs. An even more appropriate comparison would be the short-lived EVALINE, a band that released one EP which blended well post-hardcore and progressive influences into nifty and catchy songs. These guys will have to be careful not to go overboard with the progressive aspect of their sound or they could potentially alienate a lot of fans. Otherwise, the guys of HARVARD are surely on their way to something grand; from here they just need to let the ivy blossom on the bricks a little bit longer.

Enjoy The Ride