If We Were Really Here, the debut LP by Salt Lake City, UT quintet, The Happies, is a breath of fresh air amidst a severely luted "new" music scene. The group, made up of the Biddulph brothers, Miles (guitar & vocals), Nathan (bass & vocals) & Linwood (keyboards & drums), and rounded out by Kiley Mickelson (guitar & vocals) and Elledge Bowers (drums & keyboards), is one of seemingly unlimited potential. Drawing from a self-admitted myriad of influences, The Happies, as most bands worth remembering do, fuse together the premium aspects of those influences and masterfully wrap them around an anchor partially embedded in the harmony-rich, '60's-era (especially British) pop-psychedelia as well as in the new wave, synth-pop of the early to mid 1980's. However, what makes this such a successful marriage of varying influences and styles is The Happies' ability to make the resulting sound their very own. I can honestly say that, with the exception of "Everything Is Fine, Cover Your Eyes" which follows a kind of anthemic-power-pop formula (which is used fully to it's advantage, by the way), The Happies are playing a "new" style of music. The likes of which I've yet to hear from any other band out there.
The first tune that really grabs the listener's attention is "Sun Don't Shine". It opens with a short guitar riff that is joined by a simple yet enticing organ lick. The bass then comes bouncing in and moves the repetitive riff along as if it's the tune's only means of transportation. It stays like this for the verse before exploding into the chorus where we get a good hint as to where these guys are at in regard to their attention to vocal harmony; crystal clear and right on the money. When the chorus ends, they stop on a dime and go back to the luscious groove of the verse where you get pulled right back in to that stuck-in-a-video-game riff. During the outtro, the catchy chord progression is tastefully jammed over with the band pulling a false ending, jumping back into the riff and then twisting their way in and out of the timing of it. Admittedly, for me, that move was an unexpected yet pleasant surprise. The first surprise? Yes. The last? Hardly! The Happies pay attention to, what may seem to most like, minute details and this is where the surprises come into play. The perfect example of this comes in the form of the airy "Eleven". The emotionless vocals and ringing guitar conjure up images of almost any new-wave London band circa 1983. But, when the pedal-steel sneaks into the musical fray, the juxtaposition of musical stylings on one hand and the compatibility it has with the conveyed emotion of the song on the other make it unlike any other tune by any other band. The same can be said for "Open Up"; a mid-tempo, guitar driven rocker that has an underpinning lazy feeling thanks to, again, a tastefully manipulated pedal-steel All of the songs on the album follow suit; these Utah boys are able to recall a style, sound or even band without aping it/them by adding their own twist. Take, for example, the loping intro of the Stone Roses meet the Beatles-esque "Give Yourself" or the ingenious guitar breaks of the latter-day-Phish infused "Holy Places". These two songs would be nothing, however without the Happies stamp which is quirky soloing and whimsical vocalizations.
There is no doubt that each ditty on this debut easily pays for itself. However, there 2 songs that stand out as undeniably epic: the first is "Polarity". The lyrical meter is fantastic and is what gives the song it's character but it's a wonderfully raunchy guitar solo over the relatively mellow melody that MAKES the song. As your leg wants to bounce to the lazy rhythm, the head can't help but want to shake, rattle and roll to the amped up guitar solo. The problem is that you can only do one or the other because if you try to do both and there is a witness to it, you may wind up in a heavily secured loony bin. I guess that's what they mean when they say : "dance like nobody's watching". The other epic track on If We Were Really Here is "Spend A Day"; a tune that spins into existence thanks to an elliptical 3/4 time signature and an orgiastic blend of Yes, the Beatles and Syd Barret-era-Pink Floyd. This tender tale is pure psyschedelia complete with the required soulless vocals, trippy instrumentation that harkens back to the days when LSD was legal and maddening sound effects that trail off leaving the listener wondering what it was they just heard. I have yet to see The Happies live, but I can't help to think that, when played live, these two songs can carry the place on their backs as top-notch, no-holds-barred show-stoppers. And that's the next step, I assume; to see The Happies in a live setting and see how well they're able to translate these tunes from the studio to the stage.
As with most, if not all, relatively new, up and coming bands, this one is not without it's flaws. Of the very few that are present, the one that stands out the most is a very similar back-beat drum rhythm that permeates maybe a third of the songs on the album. However, considering the handle that these guys already have on their craft, with maturity and experience, any flaws that pop up here will, more than likely, have been erased upon their next studio output. Not to mention that this album, as a whole, is good enough to really overlook any less-than-minor glitches it may have.
Like someone's offspring, this band bears slight resemblances of those who've come before, but refuse to be recognized solely by those attributes. And in doing so, they certainly leave the listener, well, happy.
For more information on The Happies, including news, music, and show dates, go to http://www.thehappies.net/.