Hippies is the second album by Austin-based rock trio Harlem, and the band’s first release on Matador Records.  I haven’t heard Harlem’s debut, 2009’s Free Drugs , but I think I can safely assume that Hippies sounds a lot like it.

It’s not that I didn’t enjoy my first spin through Hippies. It’s perfectly good garage- loose but not too sloppy, catchy but not terribly generic, confident but not insufferably cocky.  I just didn’t hear anything unique about Harlem’s style.

I’m sure I’ll listen to many of the songs on Hippies again.  The album’s just much too long (16 tracks) and samey for me to want to listen to the whole thing 10 times before its April 6th release.  But I probably wouldn’t skip any of these tracks if they came on while my iPod was shuffling.