Harmony Set was a short lived screamo band from Boston, Massachusetts. In their brief time together, the band played one show, released 17 demo tapes and a few CDrs with bonus tracks. Unfortunately I have only been able to track down one of the two bonus tracks from the CDr ("Bookmark" is still missing), but I have made a nice rip of the 2 song demo tape that sounds a bit better than the bit-crushed mp3 files that were floating around before. These 4 songs were recorded with Will Killingsworth at Dead Air Studios. Only 17 of these tapes where made for their one and only show at the "fuck fest" in New Bedford, my copy is #14! Harmony Set fit right in on the cusp of the burgeoning 00s "screamo" scene, with long drawn out build ups and explosive and emotional breakdowns. They certainly carved out their own unique niche despite only having 3 or 4 songs, all of which are worth checking out.
Heres a funny little excerpt I found on another blog post about Harmony Set:
"They made their dramatic entrance to the community center around 6pm approximately, minutes before their scheduled time-slot. A few of them were wearing fur coats, everyone had on some degree of mascara, eye shadow, lipstick. The kids were a little taken back. No one really knew what to expect at the time. People knew the face and the sleeves and the backstory, but the last thing they heard, musically, was thoroughly streetpunk. The default opening of extended feedback was noteworthy because during this intro the members of the band kissed each other on the lips before launching into their first song. If memory serves me correct (and I can't say this with 100% certainty after nearly 12 years) that first song was "Porcelain." Hear attached. One thing I remember vividly, was the overall "WTF" look on the faces of the kids in the crowd at the time. Besides the 10 or so devotees in the very front, the audience was genuinely perplexed. "The kids like us will be alooooonnneee foreverrrr (together)" in Edgar Allen Poe vocals, turned off more than a couple hardcore for hardcore's sake heads instantly. During the frantic 4th-generation Antioch Arrow derivative riffage that followed that emotional breakdown, Gibby hoisted the mic-stand up in the air and through the ceiling of our community's only all-ages venue. As if things couldn't get any more controversial. The song finished as it rained down debris of chalky particle board. This lovely girl, Katie, who was working the door and doing most of the leg-work to keep the show organized and running smoothly was driven to tears for the 2nd time in as many days. There was a brief pause in the proceedings as the owners of the place were made abreast of the development and for a moment we were certain the show was over "foreverrrrrr!" Of course, the space was packed to capacity like it had never been before in the 3 year history of having shows there. And since money talks, the show went on."
