On their debut album American Dreamer, Jeremy and the Harlequins have written a wonderful album with plenty of excitement and surprises throughout. While the record has a modern day sound, the band mentions in their biography that they tried their best to go back to rock and roll’s beginnings and leave computers and modern day recording technology out of the recording process to make sure that the album sounds fresh and real. After listening to the release in full, front man Jeremy Fury and his band have succeeded in making an album that pays tribute to their genre’s roots while still making sure that everyone listening will take something away from American Dreamer.
In April of 2013, Jeremy and guitarist Craig Bonich found themselves in New York City without a band after their current group disbanded. Wanting to start something new, Jeremy’s brother Stephan, who happened to be a drummer, came into the group. After spending some time in France, Stephen decided to head home to Toledo, Ohio, where he would end up collaborating with his new band mates on songs that Jeremy had stored away for years. After deciding to form a new band, they brought in friend and bassist Nathan Cogan, and guitarist Patrick Meyer to round out the group, making Jeremy and the Harlequins a complete band.
While the band emphasizes the use of real instruments on their debut album American Dreamer, it’s the bands love of old music and old fashioned recording techniques, such as recording vocals completely live that really catch your attention. Dreamer opens with “Trip Into The Light”, a tune that sounds like it was released decades ago, instead of being a more recent release. Its 50’s rock and roll inspired sound, will have older music fans rejoicing due to the fact that they are listening to younger musicians who know how to rock and do it well. “Some Days” is American Dreamer’s next track, and its slower pace doesn’t quite grab listeners, though the warm tone throughout the song gives the music a rich texture that you don’t hear too often in today’s overabundance of computerized songs.
Lastly, “Sunlight in the Rain” is a pretty track that lets the audience lose themselves in the song as Jeremy’s soothing vocals makes the tune memorable. While the song is one of the slower cuts on the record, its subtle beauty brings the album full circle, and gives younger music listeners a taste of how musicians used to record albums, as Jeremy and the Harlequins go back to music’s beginnings, and bring a bit of the past to the present.
You can listen to a song from the album called “You’re My Halo” below.
