Strangers & Sensual Harassment Shine On You

After a ten day break we've emerged from our cocoon to begin posting once again.  And really, I couldn't have written this any better if I tried.  Happy Monday folks, thanks for sticking around.  We here at POP! Stereo HQ really appreciate the support. 

Anyway, when a band finishes a new album, there’s certainly a temptation to break out the Mad Dog 20/20, order a fleet of stuff-crust pepperoni pizzas and veg out to some classic Twin Peaks re-runs for the next few weeks or even months, that isn’t always the best instinct.

Following the buzz behind late 2010’s Alpha Draconis (quite possibly a Slytherin spell) , Sensual Harassment has been holed up and busy at work in a crowded studio that’s begun to resemble a synth-nerd’s episode of Hoarders. While waiting for their record to come back from the mastering engineer, the band has decided to tackle some remixes to stay fresh and focused for their new releases later this year.

This time around, Sensual Harassment takes the plaintive and down-tempo gem from the auspicious UK band Strangers and flips it out into a synth-charged thumper, amplifying the original track to near anthemic heights. They pretty much knock it out of the ball park here and if this remix is a taste of things to come the mastering engineer better get his arse in gear!

Download: Strangers - Shine On You (Sensual Harassment Remix)
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Victim of Sensual Harassment

If you've ever experienced one of those nights and dreamt you were being chased through an enchanted black forest by an army of blood-thirsty zombies, Sensual Harassment may have just created the perfect accompanying soundtrack. "Boss", the lead single from their new album Alpha Draconis, is a fist-pumping, rock massacre staged on a hypnotic horror-disco dance floor.

Working closely again with producer Jesse Cannon (Animal Collective, The Cure), the Brooklyn band has crafted a dense and otherworldly blend that melds the precision percussion and screaming TB-303 synth lines of 'Homework' era Daft Punk with the bold and brassy synth jabs of early New Order, all narrated by a claustrophobic vocal so densely packed with reverb and delay that it's panic-inducing in it's own right. In true form, the band avoids convention and ends the journey with unexpected waves of ear-piercing shoegaze guitar noise that despite it's somber overtones, feels like a cathartic escape.

Dramatic, proggy, epic, and sounding as though they've come from another planet, Sensual Harassment have come up with some special blend of rock and dance music that' would make Moroder blush. "Boss," is crazy post-everything that fits somewhere between Blue Oyster Cult, the dance floor and a car chase.

Download: Boss

Sue For Sensual Harrassment

Just when you think Brooklyn has stopped churning out bands, and you pretty much have the area's sound down, here comes yet another band/group/artist from the area. with a clever play on words and a sound that's as seductive as their name, Sensual Harassment have just released their latest single, Fever.

Picking up where the much-blogged/buzzed about Soldier/Daddy Long Legs EP left off Fever has massive hooks, a driving synth line and a beat that bangs it's way home in an almost post baggy drugged out haze. This is the sound of 1992 brought back to life by a bunch of New Yorkers who probably were like three when all this stuff was popular initially. For us old folks, Sensual Harassment are like a throwback to something Chapterhouse could have recorded but never did.

Working again with engineer Jesse Cannon (The Cure, Animal Collective), the band has mastered the delicate art of making vintage gear sound new and listening carefully to their influences while still creating a galvanizing sound looks forward while joyously taking from the past. Sensual Harassment are a fantastic band that seem miles ahead (or behind) many of their local peers.

Download: Fever

Download: Daddy Long Legs

You'll be Sensually Harrassed.

Sensual Harassment is a Reptilian Humanoid alliance utilizing sonic mind control through beat-driven psych-pop.

In their debut broadcast, the scaly Brooklyn trio seamlessly shape-shifts from re-verb-drenched post-Apocalyptic new wave to epileptic space disco. Recorded at their clandestine headquarters in Southside Williamsburg, the band wisely recruited Jesse Cannon (The Cure, Animal Collective and The Misfits) to help engineer the cerebral revolution.

Bold yet subdued, "Soldier" is an electrified symphony soaked in icy analog synths concluding in a melodic crescendo that is equal parts Pet Shop Boys and The Chameleons. Cut with razor sharp synths, "Daddy Long Legs" is a cosmic dance party fueled by grimy Italo arpeggio's while evoking the pulsating funk and visceral aggression of Fugazi.

Download: Soldier
Download: Daddy Long Legs