Bombay Harambee party to unleash debut record

Goldmine, the debut album from Little Rock band Bombay Harambee, is a pugilistic, driving slab of post punk with unapologetically literate lyrics, rusty buzz saw guitars and a wicked backbeat.

To celebrate the album's entry into the world, the band -- Alexander Jones, guitar and vocals; Trent Whitehead, guitar; Ryker Horn, bass; and Tyler Nance, drums -- is throwing a record release party Friday at Little Rock's White Water Tavern. Collin vs. Adam and Pagiins open the show.

"It took a lot longer than I expected," says Jones, 26, the band's principal songwriter. "This is the first time all of my work has been in one collection and I felt responsible for making it as good as I possibly could."

The album is being released on Little Rock's Max Recordings label.

Sessions began for the record in August 2014, when the band completed about 60 percent of the album, then stretched out for another year or so. The group worked with engineer Jason Weinheimer and recorded at Little Rock's Fellowship Hall Sound.

"He's really great," Jones says of Weinheimer. "He's very thoughtful and well-prepared. It was great, from start to finish."

The result is 12 spiky, energetic tracks that sound familiar -- there's maybe a little of The Fall here, some Sleater-Kinney there, '80s college-rock, indie grooves elsewhere -- but also solidly unique. The record starts quickly with the pogoing sneer of "Interval" and slides directly into "Bombed the Polygraph." Later, there's the defiant "Dotted Line" with its squealing feedback, the raging "Blue Balloon" and commentary about America's nuclear arsenal on "Check, Check, Checkmate."

There's also a thread of a theme that runs through Goldmine, which has something to do with making the best of what your local scene has to offer and being a part of a community instead of looking elsewhere.

"The Rock is a ghost town/whenever I fly back in," Jones sings on "Midtown."

"This is where I grew up," the Little Rock native Jones says. "It's the only music scene I've ever known ... there's good and bad with anyplace and Little Rock is no different."

Though Jones, whose first band was called The Tricks, spent time at law school in Virginia, he returned to Little Rock and its music community. (He also co-hosts Overground/Underground on Saturday afternoons on Little Rock community radio station KABF-FM, 88.3.)

"Far too often, I feel that people feel the need to get out of here. Not just in the music scene, but in almost every part of society and I hate that aspect of it."

Still, he's determined to stay a part of the scene.

"No one is going to help us, we've got to do it. I understand why people want to leave, but I'm gonna try to help build things here."

"I liked the energy of the album and the band," says Max Recordings owner Burt Taggart. "I like the way they come across as people and I like the music, of course. It's more punk rock and that's how I grew up. I'll always have a sweet spot in my heart for that."

The album will be available on CD and on a gorgeous, yellow vinyl record that will include a code to download the digital version. Fayetteville artist Gustav Carlson created the intricate, bloody, Western-theme artwork.

"I'm very happy with it," Jones says of the album. "We're just excited to get it out there more than anything. It's taken a whole lot of time and effort."

Weekend on 02/18/2016