The ever genuine, nostalgic, and even haunting Jeremy and The Harlequins have released their full-length album, American Dreamer. The band opened up about their 10-track record and talked about the more intimate, as well as fun sides of the record, how the songs came about, and what they mean to the band.
1) “Trip Into The Light”
We wanted the first track of the album to have some balls. This one is immediate gratification with that Personal Jesus-esque guitar riff. The drums for the whole song were played on only the kick and snare and everything was layered with floor stomps and hand claps. We were even banging on the top of a grand piano at the studio to make the percussion hit as organically and brutal as possible.
2) “Heart of Stone”
This tune is kind of like a warning. The message is pretty clear: If you’re trying to solve a problem by destroying something, filling a void, or hurting someone, you’re pretty much only going to make things worse. You need to have some heart, man.
3) “Cam Girl”
Cam Girl could easily be a pop punk tune if it were played on an electric guitar with compressed to hell drums. Instead, the rhythm guitar is basic power chords on an acoustic. It ends up making the song sound somewhere in between Buddy Holly and the early Beatles. Lyrically, it’s the modern equivalent of a song about trying to pick up today’s pin up girl–a cam girl.
4) “Right Out Of Love”
It’s a love song about falling out of love. It sounds like a Roy Orbison tune, but lyrically I think it’s pretty far from something he would have written about. Instead of wallowing in pain and sadness, the message is more, ‘you’re not that special, this happens to everyone.’
5) “Some Days”
This tune is about 8 years old. I originally wrote it about 2 weeks after my old band, We Are The Fury, toured with the New York Dolls. Since then, I’ve probably recorded a half dozen different versions of the tune, but none of them did the song justice until this one. I hope this one becomes someone’s favorite.
6) “Moonlight”
I was dating a girl who wasn’t ready for a relationship. I’m sure I’m not the only in the world who’s been in that situation. Anyway, writing this tune helped me get over it. I realized I was looking for something in the wrong place. And I moved on.
7) “White Star Bright Love”
This one lies somewhere between doo wop, psychedelic pop, and garage rock. I think it’s one of the most fun records on the album. Most people describe our band as 50’s rockabilly or 60’s early rock ‘n’ roll, but I think this tune sounds most like an early glam rock tune ala Sparks or Ziggy Stardust.
8) “Settle Down”
Classic rockabilly. To me, it’s kind of a Gene Vincent, Stray Cats, early Elvis type of thing. It’s as straight forward as it gets and is one of the best tunes to play live. People forget that people used to dance at rock ‘n’ roll shows. This one was made for people to dance to.
9) “You’re My Halo”
‘Earth Angel’ is one of my favorite songs. We wanted a song on the album that had that 6/8 feel to it. Fortunately, we didn’t have to look to far for this one. Stevie and I had written this years ago for our last band. We revamped it and here it is.
10) “Sunlight in the Rain”
Before we even tracked one note, we were quite certain this song would close the record. It’s romance recorded. I was listening to a lot of Scott Walker around the time I wrote it so I think you can hear some of that influence in there. I also think it could have been on the Princess Bride soundtrack.
Photo by: Adam Erick Wallace.
