Singles

The Harringtons - Set In Our Ways

Page 14/07/2009

Rating: 4.5/5

The Harringtons are a four-piece guitar based band from Barnsley, with vocals that can't fail but hammer home their northern roots. So far so Arctic Monkeys so are The Harringtons yet another Monkeys rip off, found by a label to cash in or is there more to these Barnsley boys?

I'll admit I wasn't approaching this single with high hopes, fearing to hear the sound of the latest clean cut boys to make a watered down Libertines, Arctic Monkeys sound, but I'm pleased to say I was pleasantly surprised. Instead of a Monkeys clone the Set In Our Ways single owes more to another northern band, sharing an energetic, hectic guitar and pounding drums with The Music, though less dancey but as instant and attention gripping. Underneath the hectic guitars lay's dark Editors style brooding intensity, a sound that offers glimpses of a band with more to offer than your typical cool, fashionable new band.

At over five minutes Set In Our Ways isn't a typical slice of radio friendly guitar pop and is all the better for it. At a time when most new guitar bands appear to be happy to follow the same formulaic cheeky chappy garage pop, The Harringtons offer a darker more intense slice of guitar driven music. Singing in a thick northern accent now-a-days instantly brings accusations of being nothing but a pale Monkeys rip off but to dismiss The Harringtons as another one of these is just lazy and inaccurate. Alongside Four Dead In Ohio, The Harringtons offer a glimpse into exciting new times for northern guitar music that might just prove that there is more to life north of Watford gap than a certain Sheffield band.