Rating: NNN
Big Harp is the L.A.-based husband-and-wife team of Christopher Senseney (vocals/guitar/keys) and Stefanie Drootin-Senseney (bass/backing vocals). She’s worked with Bright Eyes, She and Him and Azure Ray, and met Christopher while on tour with her band the Good Life. Drummer Chris Phillips rounds out the trio.
Despite their band name, there’s no harp here, just unfussy, smooth tunes about debt, retribution and crazy city life, punctuated by bluesy breakdowns and rock detours. Mostly they tell stories (lover’s revenge song Nadine and its nostalgic epilogue, Oh Nadine, for example), though straight-up love songs like Let Me Lend My Shoulder also appear.
Senseney shines when he lets his rumbly baritone break on the soulful mantra that is Everybody Pays.
Top track: Everybody Pays
