Harvey Sutherland: Boy | 4ZZZ Brisbane 102.1FM

- Ahh Mike Katz, he hailed from humble beginnings at RENDER, a Melbourne rip-off of the CDR producer-night concept at infamous Fitzroy watering hole Bar Open, started by ex-Sandpit guitarist and songwriter turned dubstep and event producer Brendan Webb.

Sharing the stage with ex-Briz legend AOI and newly arrived Perth transplant Able8 (not to mention yours truly) this was the start of a winding journey that included a fleeting flirtation with off kilter beat production (when Melbourne had it’s own little moment of trying to emulate the LA beats/Brainfeeder scene with producers like Wooshie and short-lived but ultra-cool labels like ThisThing. Looking back, what the hell was wrong with drums that were in time anyways?! it was like The Swing Wars out there for a minute, head-nodders struggling to nod their heads in time to increasingly elusive rhythms; but that’s another Netflix series.

So, fast forward a little and Mike’s got a Juno, playing at Swanston St’s now defunct Lounge Bar with a korg nano-kontrol running live looping in Ableton, dropping in a bassline one minute, then funky house chords the next, and then the first tentative solos of the future wailing synth-lord in-the-making. No more wonky for Mike, no more bearded hoodie-wearers smelling of bong-smoke in his crowd, stroking their chins and figuring how to swing harder. No, it was time to dance!

...and people really liked Funky Mike! Funky Mike became Harvey Sutherland, started getting some serious love on Melbourne community radio (tastemaker Ennio Styles was an early adopter, with the first live-to-air solo performance). Then festival slots; the hilarious time multinational fashion giant H&M got caught stealing one of his songs for an Instagram video; and playing at the Community Radio Footy Cup half-time show (which is when you know you’ve really made it); and, well, it all kinda snowballed from there. Finally, behold, the international juggernaut that is the Harvey Sutherland we know and love today, bringing you his newest record Boy.

Opening cut Jouissance has us in mellow, upbeat krautrock territory to start off: a leisurely cruise on the autobahn, with minimalist bass and spacious atmospheric chords holding up a harmonised melodic cycle. Start your road trip right. We also see some of the dub-fx tricks that got him into gigs like remixing Khruangbin and Hot Chip here, with a springy robotic breakdown that releases into a big finish.

Age Of Acceleration is golden era funk, all that’s missing is Jamiroquai singing about cars and the moon. Instead we get a group sung hook of the track title, planning ahead to that crowd participation moment at the festival no doubt.

Standout single Feeling Of Love takes Harvey back into the heart of the LA scene with the irrepressible DāM-FunK, a jump-out-of-your-skin hi-energy funk workout with all the punchy syncopation and bristling rhythmic flourish a funk-fiend could wish for. An instant classic.

Holding Pattern immediately drops the energy down into an AOR zone of sax and bass groove about a relationship gone cool; but maybe anything is going to be a comedown after the highs of Feeling Of Love. Mike tries his hand at lead vocal on this one and while he can definitely carry a tune I can’t help feeling someone else is going to record the definitive version of this number one day.

Slackers takes things uptempo again, with a shuffly 2step beat and wide, monosynth bass peppered with bouncy synth stabs.

Type A sees Harvey take a run at coldwave punk with a guest co-write and vocal from Jack Summers of CLAMM. This gels with the emerging kraut and synthwave vibes that are developing in the Harvey Sutherland sound, working with live drummers making bigger punk and rock gestures make sense. Still, it kinda doesn’t connect with the central conceit of the rest of the record.

Angry Young Man almost seems like a joke jam. Like “hey let’s make a chorus out of chanting about being an angry young man” (calling someone that always fixes things, right?!) all over a generic funk blast. Not the shiniest moment for my ears.

Title track Boy provides some redemption with what amounts to a beatless but highly polished interlude. An implication of a classic Goldie dnb tune that could happen but doesn’t.

Time On My Side starts with promising wah guitar (or is it synth?) and congas, sliding into clav bass and crunchy handclaps. Now we’re dancing on the beach after dark, oh yeah! Throw in a slick harmonised hook melody, and some tastefully done backing vocals from the man himself and the latest longplayer from Harvey Sutherland sails away into the sunset.

it’s a little patchy overall though. The DāM-FunK collab is exceptional, Jouissance was picked up and remixed and already has a life of it’s own by virtue of being lead single from a hotly anticipated record. Sure,Type A will likely have a long life on darker dancefloors and electro-punk playlists and Time On My Side really closes things out on a high, but there are some pretty flat instrumentals, near-filler-like material, and a ballad that probably needs to be done by someone else to be really good.

Mike talks a lot about himself and his therapist in the liner notes for this release. You get the impression of an artist who is still struggling with imposter syndrome and feelings of validity despite an enormous amount of success. It’s good to acknowledge this, maybe even to talk about it in the context of music and mental health and musicians having more realistic expectations of themselves and the industry as is promoted so passionately by artist and broadcaster Tim Shiel.

There are some real highs on this record but it has lulls too. Funky Mike doesn’t care though. Funky Mike is going to be fine. His therapist would probably tell him to not place so much importance on other people's opinions anyways.

- Kieran Ruffles.