Casual Harmony by Rutgers University Casual Harmony

Casual Harmony is the only all-male a cappella group out of Rutgers University. In a just a few short years the group has made quite a name for itself on the national scene. Founded in 2003, the group has already made three appearances in the ICCA semifinals (placing twice) and now has two above average CDs to their credit.

But before we get to the group’s most recent, eponymous CD, I’d like to address my history with the group. I first saw Casual Harmony in the fledgling days of my a cappella fanship, at the 2005 ICCA Mid-Atlantic Semifinal at Cornell. It was an odd year the competition that saw runners-up from the first round of the tournament compete that afternoon, with the top three finishers moving on to the evening’s semifinal round. And so, Casual Harmony earned its way into that night’s event, then played the iron men role, taking the stage for a second time in less than 10 hours to perform their set again. What happened is the stuff of legend. The group finished second in its quarterfinal, third in the afternoon qualifier, and yet want to turn in what is, to this day, the most impassioned display of a cappella I have ever seen to earn second place overall at that night’s event, highlighted by an emotionally ripping rendition of Aerosmith’s “Dream On.” Not bad for a group that had been together for less than two years at that point.

In the years to follow, I have had the pleasure of seeing the group numerous times, and seeing them evolve. I saw them take on Muse before it was in vogue to do so. They embraced material by System of a Down, Tool and Radiohead, continually pushing the boundaries of the people could conceptualize collegiate a cappella. Perhaps of equal importance, the group didn’t shy away from mainstream selections—rather than asserting themselves as musical elitists or purely an alt-rock act, the guys still took on hits by Maroon 5, Rick Springfield and Stevie Wonder, demonstrating an interest in not just standing out for their innovation, but also for performing the best music they were capable of, period.

Casual Harmony’s self-titled CD is their second recording. The cover art and liner notes are clean and sharp, with some nice imagery of orange and blue swirls, like fire and ice, the fury and the cool of the group. The interior casing has an image of the sheet music for three of the recorded songs, a neat visual that speaks a certain emphasis on the music.

As a whole this is a good album. A cappella CDs aren’t known for promoting thematic connections, and while this disc is, like most others, a bit eclectic, it’s also more than a ‘yearbook’ style compilation of what the group has done--the group chooses its songs with care to establish an entertaining mix of little-known and mainstream, alternative and pop, old school and contemporary. Furthermore, the ordering is effective in providing solid transitions, while at the same time, varying the mood to make it an interesting listening experience.

With all of that being said, the CD is not without flaws, the most notable and overarching of which is the way in which the album was produced. Listening to this disc reminded me of a studio art class I took when I was in tenth grade. I was working on a pencil sketch of this still life, and shading and cross-hatching the heck out of it, much to the approval of my teacher. I was chatting with a classmate one day and noticed he had a different approach to his piece. He would shade in an area, then rub over it with his finger to smear the pencil strokes and create a smoother look all around. I decided to give this a try on my own drawing, and it had a similar effect of really smoothing out my shades. I liked the look of it until my teacher came around, put his hands to his head and asked me what on earth I had done.

See, my teacher was upset because, when I smudged the shading I took out a lot of the individual values and contrasts I had previously worked in. Sure, it looked smoother, but it was no longer textured, varied or nearly as interesting. This, I fear, is the same result at which Casual Harmony unwittingly arrived through all of their production effects on this album. The sound isn’t displeasing—on the contrary, I enjoyed it quite a bit, and it holds up after multiple listens. The production is so thick, though, that, more often than not you can’t pick out syllables in the background, or distinguish intricacies of the group’s vocal percussion from an actual drumbeat. The end result is a CD that does not give us the sound of a great a cappella group, but rather of a really good cover band. It’s an enjoyable CD--just not the CD I intended to listen to.

The one element of Casual Harmony’s talent that consistently survives the production process is the fine solo work of the group. J. Aaron Boykin is particularly impressive for his silky smooth vocals on “I’ve Got to Use My Imagination” and “Stay,” in addition to a high octane run on “Stronger.” More than anyplace else on CD, though, “Stronger” reeks of unrealized potential. Boykin channels Kanye West’s rap stylings to the fullest, but aside from his performance, you had might as well be listening to the original recording. Given the nature of the song, and the fact that it appears last on the CD, I would have happily accepted some production on it, but after a CD produced to the Nth degree up to that point, this was the disappointing white icing on an angel food cake, when you were craving chocolate.

Given my aesthetic for a cappella recording, which I think has been fairly well-established at this point, it should come as no surprise that I found the CD to be at its best when the effects were at a minimum, in favor of letting the a cappella musicians do their thing with the human voice. The solo on Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy” was one of the most satisfying for just how rough, raw and true it was. Similarly, the total package of “Sober” by Tool came across with a less-polished and altogether preferable sound.

My two favorite tracks on the disc were great for what they represented. The inclusion of Straylight Run’s “Existentialism on Prom Night” was emblematic of what can be most fun and refreshing in collegiate a cappella, particularly in the case of a group that likes innovation the way Casual Harmony does. This isn’t a song everyone will know, much less think to cover a cappella. Better yet, the engineering on this track was light-handed enough to leave some of the texturing I was hoping for all disc long. My other song of choice was “Crazy,” originally by Gnarls Barkley. The arrangement starts out soft and slow, in a fun reimagining of the song that I imagine plays off all the better live, when I can only imagine the group bursting with energy and movement on the initial transition to the upbeat tempo. Also very cool was the momentary sampling of Matchbox Twenty’s “Unwell.” Moments like this are a celebration of what’s unique in a cappella, and so a representation of Casual Harmony at its very best.

All considered, Casual Harmony’s self-titled album is absolutely worth a listen, but if you don’t like over-produced recordings, be forewarned that this one is not for the purists.