Inaction from Benjamin Harper on Vimeo.
Benjamin A. Harper can't go by his own name. Therefore,
The Comfies present Benjamin A. Harper.
The Comfies Present: Benjamin A. Harper in This Ship Is Going Down
The first in a series of EPs starting June 2009.
Tell your friends.
The Comfies Present: Benjamin A. Harper in This Ship Is Going DownThe Comfies
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CLOSE TO ME EP
ON SALE NOW AT iTUNES, AMAZON.COM, E-MUSIC, LIVEWIRE RECORDINGS
AND AT THE FOLLOWING INDIE STORES ACROSS AMERICA: AZ: Zia's (Phoenix) - CA: Amoeba (San Francisco, Berkeley, Hollywood), Dimple Records (Sacramento), Lou's Records (Encinitas), Virgin Megastore (Los Angeles) - CO: Angelo's (Aurora), Independent Records (Colorado Springs), Twist and Shout (Denver) - CT: Disc & Dat (Bethel) - FL: Park Avenue CDs (Orlando) - GA: Criminal Records (Atlanta) - IN: Von's Shops (West Lafayette) - KA: Ear X-tacy (Lousville) - MA: Newbury Comics - MT: Rockin' Rudy's (Missoula) - NE: Homer's (Omaha) - NJ: Jack's Music Shop (Redbank), Tunes CDs (Hoboken) - NY: Kim's (New York City), Virgin Megastore (New York City), Sound Garden (Syracuse) - OR: Music Millenium (Portland) - PA: Eide's Entertainment (Pittsburgh) - SC Destiny Music (Greenville) - TN: Disc Exchange (Knoxville), Grimey's New and Preloved Music (Nashville) - TX: Waterloo Records (Austin) - VA: Fantasy (Newport News), Plan 9 Records (Richmond) - WA: Easy Street Records (Seattle), Silver Platters (Seattle)
More to be announced. Don't see your city/store listed here? Tell your local indie and chain record stores to carry The Comfies!
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Here is what people said about the Close To Me EP:
"Honed pop rock recalling the best of 70s and 80s power pop invasion with the warmth and sincerity of modern indie rock" -NashvilleZine.com
"Something like the Posies with a dash of Superdrag's saccharine harmonies, Britpop sensibility and firm grasp of the hook"- The Nashville Scene
"Rarely does a new band put together a record that garners recognition, but this band does it without breaking a sweat"- Daily Trogan (Los Angeles)
"The Comfies show a remarkable knack for creating dryly layered and very catchy recordings reminiscent of the '70s hit factory style"- All the Rage (Nashville)
"Tinkling harmonies and rhythms poised for hand-clapping audience participation propel the recording, which earned the 88th spot on CMJ’s music chart in its second week of release" - Illinois Entertainer
"There’s a thin red line between contrived and catchy, and The Comfies walk all so nimbly on the catchy side all the way through this fantastic debut"- Sound the Sirens Magazine
"This debut EP combines the crunching guitars of Superdrag and Nada
Surf, while also incorporating stop-on-a-dime mood changes a la Ted
Leo. And when a release's only downfall is that it's a seven-track EP,
not a full-length record, that's never a bad thing" - www.Beepcentral.com (Chicago)
"The Comfies are the brainchild of Benjamin Adam Harper, a wildly diverse songwriter with 40-year-old influences, 20-year-old techniques and a contemporary mindset. Close to Me piles up hooky references to avowed influences like the elemental pop of The Beatles and the baroque Pop of The Zombies, which comes out like a hybridization of The Smithereens and Velvet Crush. From the 80's Rock snap and swing of the title track to the Honky Dory/Bowie-esque turn on "That's What She Gets" to the Kinks jaunt of "Understanding 23" to the haunting and all-too brief finale of "Dear Miss Anderson", The Comfies show a talent for absorbing and exuding their influences rather than displaying them like cheap goods in a sidewalk bazaar. Hopefully there's a full-lenght CD lurking in the wings somewhere"- CityBeat (Cincinnati)
"This Nashville foursome thumb their noses at their fair city's love of all
things country and instead take a blueprint first laid out by the mighty Zombies and further taken on by bands like Zumpano (pre-New
Pornographers). They ape the former with harmonies like the ones on the charmer "That's What she Gets" while aping the latter on the same song with crunchy guitars and pounding drums. I'm not saying this record is the next coming of ODDESSY AND ORACLE (not much is in my book) but The Comfies can write good songs, no doubt, and it's always nice to hear a band that not
only rocks but can show a sensitive, more beguiling side so we listeners can have our cake and eat it too. "In My Room" (not a Beach Boys cover tho' I'm guessing they are an influence ) is another one that's subtle in all the right places then hits you when you least expect it. And at 7 songs a perfect taste tester"- Indiepages.com (Portland)
"Ex-members of Feable Weiner, Lifeboy, Silent Friction and The Darling Hearts make up this bouquet of early bloomers plucked from the hothouse of Music City pop. On their EP Close to Me (Livewire) they offer their own climbing-wall-of-sound take on the bouncy psych-pop swirl of The Zombies’ Odessey and Oracle, layering spun-sugar harmonies atop sweet-spot choruses and arrangements studded with music-hall piano, whipcrack rhythm guitar and sparkly flourishes. Every song is a slice of wedding cake, and the frosting almost hides the razor blades that glint in Ben Harper’s lyrics—the title song’s chorus isn’t a come-on, it’s a threat. Somehow, that only makes it tastier"- The Nashville Scene"This is either an excellent EP or a near great album that mysteriously left the final three tracks off"- Fufkin.com
