Search - Steppes :: Harps & Hammers

A great unknown group

david taint | Saskatchewan,Canada | 06/11/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you are an alternative/sixties rock fan than this album should be a blessing. The songs range from dark ,haunting melodies to upbeat and heavy sixties style garage rock without ever resorting to tacky lyrics or boring sound-alike melodies.The songs are diverse and well crafted,each one sounding unlike the other.This was the Steppes final album and also their best,although there wasn't a bad album in their entire cataloge.Definatly a band worth tracking down."

Little Band That Could

El Kabong | 08/26/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"You gotta love a band like The Steppes. They've fallen thru every crack in the floorboard of Fate. Nobody seems to have heard them or heard of them; they were an underground indie band back when such status was the kiss of death, signed to a microscopic label (Voxx) for most of their existence before switching to an equally-small English label (Delerium). First, you wonder what could possess men with bills to pay and families to feed into putting up with ten years of the back of the music industry's hand...then you hear HARPS & HAMMERS, and it all makes sense. Fronted by two Irishmen (John & David Fallon) who are ably abetted by two Americans (Tim Gilman, an excellent guitarist, and drummer James Dailey), the Steppes are all about songs, songs, and more songs - each short and sweet, each uniquely its own entity, constructed from equal parts Beatles, Celtic folk, Zeppelin, lyte-psych and a dozen other ingredients. The kicker is this: during no track does the moment arrive when you seize the exact influence. The blend is always different on every song. So, while "Let Me Love You" & "Pretty Debris" rock out straightforwardly and "Safe & Sound" & "Keep It Clean" enfold you with mellowness, there are also tracks like "Land of Hope" that drift in the region between the two. HARPS & HAMMERS has been cited as their best, and it's certainly superior to their swan song for Delerium, GODS MEN AND GHOSTS. Of course, if you demand pyrotechnics, this won't be for you, but if it's songcraft you seek, this belongs on your shelf."