Song Spotlight: Harry the Nightgown's lines (a night at Zebulon)

Harry the Nightgown calls their music "electronic avant-pop." I would also add that the band is a playful outfit that enjoys each other's company. This band was having too much fun on the Zebulon stage during their recent September set. As the band was about to start their set, lead singer and guitarist Sami Perez took out her phone to take photos (or videos) of her bandmates Spencer Hartling and Luke MacDonald. She was laughing all the while. My curiosity has me wondering what she was finding so amusing. 

Harry the Nightgown at Zebulon

Was she doing some creative edits to make her bandmates look a bit foolish? If so, the tables were turned around throughout the set, because whenever Perez attempted to interact with the audience, Hartling would distort her vocals via his electronic gear. Once again, they'd just break down laughing. As I was reviewing my photos and videos, I noticed that the two of them were constantly laughing or smiling throughout.

Harry the Nightgown at Zebulon

"Hope you brought earplugs." That's how the band started off their set. Then they immediately launched not into their set, but talking about the NFL season. Perez revealed that her loyalties are not with a Los Angeles based football team as she bragged about the 49ers winning their Sunday game. After getting the important subject matter out of the way, the band played songs off their recent sophomore album Ugh that definitely had that avant-pop stamp of approval. If one looked out into the audience, you knew that the audience was enamored with their music that can go from interpretive opera to jazz to psychedelic dreams based on the song. There was crowd head bobbing throughout the set.  

Harry the Nightgown at Zebulon

As the set came to a conclusion, the band decided to give themselves a pat on the back, "I feel like we rocked so hard." Then they praised the crowd, "Thank you guys for listening and clapping." 

The band has this to say about their sophomore album on Spotify: "Ugh is a cry of frustration: you’ve been trying and it’s not working out . . .  Harry the Nightgown embrace failure on their most maximalist, bittersweet record yet."

The song "lines" addresses those frustrations with the lyrics sung with siren pain:

I know that I'd like to try again
But I know it's too late

Harry the Nightgown at Zebulon

Throughout the performance of the song, the band still approached it all with a light touch of mid-song laughs and teasing. The band plays it like a lounge act that has decided to update their tune to match the mood of the art crowd hanging out at the opening night of a CalArts alumni's exhibit.  

Miscellaneous thoughts: I first crossed paths with the band in 2023 at . . . the Zebulon. I've seen Perez here and there playing with Cherry Glazerr or SadGirl. There was an interesting CalArts connection for the night's band line-up. The first band up was Ty Teg. The lead singer Audrey Reynolds is either a student or recent graduate. And Perez is on the faculty. And if you're wondering where the name came from, here's an Instagram video explaining it all. It is named after a tree that grew outside of Perez's childhood home. So the band name is not Harry and the Nightgown that I so often will say by accident.

Setlist: falling down that hill, miss dragon, hey hey, lines, bellboy, nice place.