Wizard Rock EP of the Month Club review: Harry and the Potters - "The Enchanted Ceiling" July 2007
Harry and the Potters' first contribution (of many, in more than one guise) to the EP of the Month Club was their first reach back to their earlier two releases. Although there's 14 songs on the EP, the longest is only 2:02 long, with the bulk of the tracks clocking in at less than a minute. This is in contrast to their arguably most popular album "... And The Power Of Love" which featured songs written in a more conventional format, and ended with the undeniably epic "Dumbledore/Phoenix Song" combo that comes in at a combined 12:39. There are some, however, who feel that “...ATPOL” was a bit too overproduced and not true to the vision that Paul & Joe had of the band, and "The Enchanted Ceiling" was the two brothers getting back to their more punk/indie roots.
This EP is widely available via iTunes or the band’s Bandcamp page, so if you don’t own it, you can easily grab a copy (or listen along on Bandcamp or Spotify if you don’t own it). "Harry Potter" kicks the album off with a blistering track of Joe basically just yelling "Harry Potter" over and over while mentioning a few other key characters. "Rocking at Hogwarts" and "Haircut" are in the same vein, quick little numbers that come in, get the job done, and get out. "Phoenix Tears" sounds like it could be part II of "Felix Felicis" with it's techno beat & song layout, and is followed up by "Hermione Screws Up The Polyjuice Potion", a 0:29 throwaway. The title track is next, and is just Paul and an acoustic guitar, much like many of the tunes on their debut album. "Never Going to the Bathroom Again" evokes images of a pirate shanty and is one of the more fun songs on the EP. "Accio Hagrid" is a live favorite of HatP fans, while "Honeydukes" feels like another throwaway song (it’s 0:17 long, feeling like more of an interlude than anything else) "Ms. Norris" and "Hedwig's Cage" are outliers on the EP, given that they both clock in at just over a minute... they're practically "Stairway to Heaven" in comparison with the other tunes. They're full band tunes, but have the same repetitive lyrics as a number of the other songs on the EP. "The Radio" is 0:30 of the Harrys complaining about muggle technology not working at Hogwarts (and maybe subtly trying to get wrock fans out to their shows?) and "Everlasting Icicles" is another quick acoustic tune. The EP wraps up with "The Gringotts Goblin Coaster", featuring some gruff vocals from Joe about riding the carts at Gringotts when there's nothing left to do in Diagon Alley, and listeners are treated to an outro guitar solo featuring some pretty rad duelling melodic lines from Paul. All in all, the EP is fun on it's first few listens, but to me none of the songs really have the longevity of many of the other HatP releases, aside from "Accio Hagrid". If you're a die hard wrock fan, you almost undoubtedly have this EP in your collection, even if you didn't subscribe to the club. If you're not a die hard, or one of the fans who weren't too into Harry and the Potters, you may have listened to it once or twice and said "eh". It's not a bad release by any means, but may have disappointed some listeners who were hoping for more of the same that "...ATPOL" brought (yes, I'm one of them). Even though that album featured some short songs, they almost felt like they were a bit more fleshed out and solid than the short songs on this release.
I get the why’s behind this EP - HatP are a punk band to the core when you get down to it, and we’re also talking the ideals behind the DIY ethic that they brought to the table (and admirably still do, BTW), not just the style of music. But even given that, this EP has always personally left me wanting a bit more out of it... and perhaps it’s made you feel the same way too.
Up next: Roonil Wazlib "Putting Fluffy To Sleep" August 2007.
