In a scene that’s saturated with jangly guitar riffs, and where everyone and their brother are the next big breakthrough act, it can be hard to take “indie rock” seriously sometimes. Sifting out the good from the bad becomes tiresome and before you know it your Superfood have become your Splashh. Thankfully, northerners Nai Harvest don’t seem to let this bother them. Following up to debut ÔÇÿWhatever’, the Sheffield duo return with ÔÇÿHold Open My Head’, this March. Boasting four solid examples of why the band shouldn’t be ignored in 2014, the EP takes you on a 15-minute journey of 90s-inspired rock that does everything in its power to, in the best possible sense of the term, avoid being pigeonholed.
Track one ÔÇÿRush’ hits you straight between the eyes. Providing the catchy riff and sing-along bridge (complete with ÔÇÿooohs’) essential for any successful record opener, ÔÇÿRush’ more than makes up for what it lacks in build with a host of nostalgic tones that wouldn’t sound out of place on Weezer’s self-titled debut. Colliding perfectly with its precursor, ÔÇÿHold Open My Head’ ensues strongly. The thoughtful ramblings of the title track achieve both universality and personality with such ease that it’s hard to believe the brains behind Nai Harvest are barely pushing 21. Room-filling ÔÇÿPastel’ closely follows, delivering droning vocals that lull you into a false sense of security before a wall of sound breaks down every misconception you may have made. ÔÇÿI Don’t Even Know’ closes the EP with a final abruptness that runs the risk of becoming out of place on a record that has otherwise tied all loose ends, but instead reflects the encapsulating awareness that runs throughout.
No matter which of the contrived labels you condemn ÔÇÿHold Open My Head’ to, be it indie-rock or the like, it’s apparent that Nai Harvest are creating noise much bigger than their two-man crew would suggest.
