In May of 2003, I called Harvey Danger’s debut album one of the “records I never get tired of” and I meant it.

Their second album, KING JAMES VERSION was released in 1999, after much corporate strife with their record company and whatnot, a tour that never materialized, and more problems than any still only slightly known band should have to bear given the success of their first hit, the unforgettable “Flagpole Sitta”, in 2000, got good reviews, but never produced a hit, and eventually led to the band taking three years off. One could almost say it was a wonder a third record ever saw the light of day. But it did.

In 2005, the band released their third and final album, LITTLE BY LITTLE, on their own label, Phonographic Records, making it available as a free download from their website (still available, just go to http://harveydanger.com/downloads/ ), and in July of 2006, the record was given a wider release when it was picked up by Olympia label Kill Rock Stars. I only found it myself about a year or so ago on Emusic.com, and hardly a week has gone by since then that I haven’t listened to it at least once. Or twice. And while both “official” versions of the album were released with a bonus disc, and with a different song order, the online versions are only 1 disc, and the Emusic version differs from the Harvey Danger website version in song order, as well as swapping out “Picture, Picture” (Emusic version) for “Incommunicado” (Website version). Yes, it’s all very confusing, and a bit irritating to a fan like me who just wishes he could find one of the official 2-disc versions somewhere that wasn’t going to cost his entire paycheck. But I digress. Let’s get to the music.

Anyone listening to Harvey Danger’s entire 3-album catalog can tell their songs are written by one person, the very incredibly talented Sean Nelson, a man after my own poetically sarcastic heart, churning out powerful and thoughtful lyrics the likes of which I can only dream of writing.

Wine, women and song: I tried them all
it did not take me long to figure I'd unlock the door to happiness
I figured wrong (with a capital R)
All the baggage I brought wouldn't fit in a mid-size car
That's why I'm walking on eggshells down the via dolorosa
(hasn't gotten me any closer so far)

Shacked up with a poet--no, it wasn't my department
Now I study the poetry of the studio apartment

Guitarist Jeff Lin shows off his piano skills with the opening track, “Wine, Women, and Song”, which features a very bouncy melody, almost the perfect ironic counterpoint to the melancholy lyrics. The album takes a drastic turn on the next song, “Cream and Bastards Rise” by bringing the power chords and a much fiercer vocal, all the while maintaining the tone and intelligence in the lyrics.

People who could buy and sell you
Sharing a joke that they will never tell you
You think you're dialed in, someone has to win
And you know what that means, well then someone's got to lose
It's probably you, it's probably you.

It's not a race, it's not a competition
And if it were, you'd be in no position to
Get them to listen to you
If you had to (Not even if your life depended on it)

You don't have to be a genius, but it helps to (It helps to)

There’s a hidden anger in this one, and not a well-hidden one, especially in Nelson’s delivery. This seems to be a theme on the album, in fact, although not as blatant. Songs like “Moral Centralia” and “Little Round Mirrors” start soft and end harder, but this one is hard and mean from the beginning.

Speaking of “Little Round Mirrors”, French horn and trombone show up, shockingly out of place at first, but both quickly melt right into the song, and, as the tempo rises, pretty much anything Harvey Danger wants to throw at us would be just about perfect. This song gets to me more and more every time and while I can’t quite put my finger on WHY, I’m just glad it does. Except when I’m at work, hitting repeat for the 4th time and wishing people would stop coming into my office and interrupting it.

Overall, LITTLE BY LITTLE is more piano-heavy than the previous two, and when I first heard it, I could tell this was something of a new direction for the band, although one that doesn’t necessarily change their “theme” so much as just make what they do all the more meaningful and complete. Of course it also makes the fact this was their final record all the more irritating.

To me, this album sounds like a band who’s finally beginning to discover just who they are. Lyrically, HD has always been very strong, Nelson knows exactly who he is as a songwriter, but musically it always felt like the band was writing catchy tunes, but only insofar as they were writing to fit the words as best they could. On LITTLE BY LITTLE it finally sounds like they’re not just writing to fit the words, but writing, and playing, to compliment them. I feel like the melodies are being written to showcase certain phrases, for example on “Cool James”:

Extend to me your hand, I'll nibble on your fingers
Bend to me your sweet ear, I'll gnaw it from its hinges now wooh!

is just a little aside in the middle of the song’s narrative, but melodically it fits so well it actually makes the song even better for its inclusion.

Harvey Danger’s always been good at switching back and forth between the harder-hitting rock songs and the softer, yet even more powerful ballads (without really making them feel like ballads at all), but LITTLE BY LITTLE carries it further with “Diminishing Returns”, which is probably the prettiest song they’ve ever released, thanks to Nelson’s low-key performance and Lin’s subtle guitar.

The star of LITTLE BY LITTLE, just like every HD album, are the lyrics. Nelson writes like I breathe; it’s just something I do to make it through every day. I could quote him all day and eventually I’d just end up including every lyric to every song, because they’re all important, nearly every line includes something, some phrase or image, that makes me think, “MAN, I wish I’d written that!” But I didn’t.

I don’t know if I can say LITTLE BY LITTLE is my favorite HD album, but it’s definitely in the top three. I don’t even know if I can pick a favorite, if such a thing is possible. Every album is awesome. But this one certainly makes an argument for being the best. It’s like the perfect storm of all the things that make HD great, and try as I might, I just can’t stop listening to it!

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Listening