Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
“The Harlem Shakes train for garage-hero status like Lou Reed drilling a guitar-armed new wave army...” - The Village Voice
“The Harlem Shakes are young, but their influences seem to cover decades of New York rock. Their sound is lo-fi tinny garage rock that will definitely make you dance (and yes, by dance New Yorkers, we mean disaffectedly tap your foot and occasionally bob your head.) We're not going to make the obvious comparison, okay we will, but it's meant as a compliment...the Harlem Shakes sound like what the Strokes should sound like. Their gritty guitar and catchy melodies are what make NY rock...rock.” - GOTHAMIST
“The hottest, blog adored up and comers on the NYC scene.” - NY PRESS
“The Harlem Shakes promise rockin' tunes and a beautiful, literate, and all-around hotshot frontman Lexy Benaim, CC '06, backed up by a considerably attractive and talented band.” - YALE HERLAD
“The Harlem Shakes just finished recording a demo with one of the Phantom Planet guys, if it come sout half as good as their live shows, they’ll soon be the darlings of the town.”
- MELODYNELSON.COM
Discography
The Baby Dragons demo, streaming on their residency site and website
summershakesny.com
harlemshakes.com
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
BIO:
The Harlem Shakes are Brent, Lexy, Jose, Ian and Kendrick, five American kids who converged in New York City to fulfill their lifelong dreams of professional musicianship and perpetual adolescence. The Shakes play rock n roll primarily influenced by their obsession with the Beatles and sixties soul: each of their songs are driven by an indelible melody that rests atop a cohesive collection of instrumental hooks and harmony. Throw in a dash of Talking Heads and Prince-style funk and you've got the unique, contemporary sound that has the Shakes packing
21+ venues all over the Tri-State area (and New Haven, CT for that matter
and inexplicably, a chilling Shakes fixation also exists in Dobbs Ferry, New York).
The Shakes are the only band in history to play with both Wire and Maroon 5, thus attesting to the breadth of the band's appeal. Their music touches the Flock of Seagulls haired hipsters, the sexually impressionable young-girls and most importantly, the headphones wearing, vinyl-collecting music people across the world. Based on their incendiary James Brown-inspired live shows and the strength of a demo they recorded in Brent's living room with a mic they couldn't afford and promptly returned after finishing their vocals, the band landed gigs opening for the Walkmen, Junior Senior, Phantom Planet and the Go!Team. After hearing their first demo, Phantom Planet became dangerously infatuated with the Shakes and their bassist, Sam Farrar, promptly decided to executive-produce and produce-produce the Shakes new demo. The band even saw a coyote in Los Angeles while recording, but they didn't get scared at all! What a fearless lot
The Shakes make music that you'll hear blaring from your teenage children's door now or twenty years from now, and they pride themselves on making the sort of relentlessly melodic, soulful, nostalgia-inducing pop music that stands the test of time. So take notice all and you too can say that you were one of the first to know when the rest of the world catches up with New York, New Haven
and Dobbs Ferry.
Links
