why harper's jar's 'thank you ancestor finger' is already the album of the year
By Livie Augustine
Minneapolis natives Harper’s Jar—consisting of singer and guitarist Devin Ware, drummer Kyle Kennedy, and Bass instruments Alex Dunn—have been rocking the DIY scene for quite some time. Having already gained popularity in the scene from a handful of singles, the band decided to blow our minds with their debut album release.
Thank You Ancestor Finger creates a grunge sound that reminisces of some of the greats including Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, and Foo Fighters. Throughout the tracklist, each song pulls its own weight. On the front end of the album, “standard in ‘c’” starts us off with an incredible showcase of the band’s instrumental talent. The golden tones of the guitar, played by singer Devin Ware, along with Ware’s voice creates a perfect entrance. However, the track doesn’t set the tone of the album for each song brings something new to the table.
The eccentricity of the album first shines through in the second track. “buzzfeedamerica” radiates amongst the album as the most Siamese Dream-esque. Then from the rough rockiness blooms the tender “when you’re without me." The sound of this song is rich and full and its steady stay in a lower range works extremely well with the rest of the album despite being one of three singles.
The fourth track rises up as the greatest of the album. There is a beautiful cohesiveness between the scattered sounds. As a whole, “black pill come down” displays the entirety of what Harper’s Jar brings to the table. The song stretches itself across different sounds and sews itself together to form a killer tune.
As Thank You Ancestor Finger reaches its center, “yakuza moon” steals the show. The quick-paced rock separates itself from the rest of the album by sticking out like a sore thumb. This track is loaded with intensity and abrasive vocals which stretch across the entire five-minute track. However, the album has a jarring contrast between its fifth and sixth tracks. Soft and slow “she’s all over me” immediately follows “yakuza moon." Tender “she’s all over me” is a beautiful song with the best lyrics of the entire album, but, unfortunately, its placement is flawed and is undermined by the former track. Nonetheless, it is a lovely song and fits its own lyrics in that “[the single’s] all I needed”.
After the spectrum stretch between “yakuza moon” and “she’s all over me," “paper moon” stands high with a heavy Nirvana Nevermind-like sound. It rocks on its own and has a perfect cohesiveness with every sound the album presents.
Then, “danny golden blue” immediately becomes an instant classic. Encompassing the sound of the ’90s, it simultaneously is more Harper’s Jar than any of the other songs. It has hints of obvious influence, but it establishes a certain uniqueness. Of course, its followed by the most popular single off the album, “home is a roach motel." It is a perfect performance song, keeping a steady upbeatness with headbang worthy beats.
Finally, “edie sedgwick” is the perfect cap to this great album. Ware, Kennedy, and Dunn all have their shining moments individually, which was a relief after seeing that the song in total was over fourteen minutes long. This track is best described as the roadmap to Thank You Ancestor Finger.
In total, Thank You Ancestor Finger by Harper’s Jar is definitely one of the greatest albums to come out of the Minneapolis DIY scene. Its production quality is wonderful and the overall sound accurately represents what rock-and-roll is. Especially during these times of social distancing, support Harper’s Jar by streaming their new album and purchasing it on Bandcamp so they can continue to make music as rockin’ as these tracks.