Garage rock hippies Harlem are dead, but if you sync up the ensuing work of Curtis O’Mara’s Grape St. and Michael Coomers’ Lace Curtains, the results equal the charmingly immature late trio’s drunken juvenile pop. Besides “Pink and Gold” and “Saint Vitus” – a level of energy unto itself in this circle – the latter’s second platter offers cheeky love songs in contrast to Grape St.’s late-night retro sockhop. “Be Good” and “Crocodile Tears” play as lullabies; “Boardwalk to the Alps” and “Wilshire and Fairfax” the dejected heartbreakers. There’s real soul with a modern shoegaze swing to it (“The Fly”), and a sand-swept jaunt through psychedelia (“Kali”). Coomers feigns charming apathy throughout the half-hour. He’ll never sound like he’s working for a minute, and that’s the secret to A Signed Piece of Paper.
This article appears in November 28 • 2014.