The Long Winters | Reviews of 'The Worst You Can Do is Harm'

The Worst You Can Do is Harm / Reviews

“really beautifully fucked up”

There is something really beautifully fucked up about this album, and it's clear from the outset that it's a form of cathartic therapy for The Long Winters' main man, John Roderick. One run through the liner notes reveals a couple of "Dear John" letters added as art, and lyrics awash in personal anguish, regret and pain. Of course, it's anguish, regret and pain that comes from accepting responsibility, and each of these songs, according to the liner notes, is dedicated to either a woman or situation that Roderick has moved on from. The music itself is an amazing mixture of indie rock musical tenets and cool production techniques, resulting in thoughtful and attention-grabbing rock music that employs vocal melodies that play - both with and against - off-kilter pop-hooks and unconventional songwriting techniques
—Synthesis; Max Sidman

“grab a couple copies”

While the Winters’ guitar-based rock is airy enough to occasionally evoke preweirdo-years Bowie, it’s also got enough heft to make comparisons to Neil Young not too outlandish – stroll down the heavy pop aisle where Sebadoh, Pavement and Spoon are stocked, and The Worst You Can Do is Harm should be there, if the stocking boy’s got any sense of continuity. If the manager’s got any sense on top of that, The Long Winters will probably also be on special. Even if it’s not on sale, grab a couple copies, one for yourself and a spare to have ready when your friends invariably want to mooch your copy.
—Aversion.com; Matt Schild

“Give Roderick his moment”

"Give me a moment, I've been away" is an apt beginning for the Long Winters' debut in that LW nucleus and erstwhile Western State Hurricanes frontman John Roderick, has, whether in body (an extended, post-WSH walkabout from Amsterdam to Istanbul) or soul (heavy drinking, apparent assholier-than-thou tendencies). Accordingly, The Worst You Can Do Is Harm is a lo-fi diary/act of contrition; dreary and joyous, sometimes acerbic, radiating repentance ("Give Me A Moment," "Mimi"), requital ("Unsalted Butter", "Government Loans"), relief (kooky, untitled Track 10) and renewal....Give Roderick his moment. In fact, give him several.
— CMJ; Randy Harward: Feb 25, 2002

“the sophisticated pop record Roger Waters always hoped to make”

Thankfully, The Long Winters (masterminded by indie-pop wunderkind John Roderick) use lo-fi to their distinct advantage on The Worst You Can Do is Harm, which begins as a Beck-sounding dirge, then quickly shifts gears into the sophisticated pop record Roger Waters always hoped to make....The Worst You Can Do is Harm is simply the most heartfelt album of 2003 so far. It's pretty to the point of being dangerous and disconcerting in a bare-ass naked sort of way. Still, it's impossible to resist....But if this is the only masterpiece the listening world gets out of The Long Winters, it'll prove itself more than enough--if not to you personally, then to someone you wish in vain you could get close to.
—Alibi.com; March 13, 2003

“I still don't want to like The Long Winters”

It's clear that Roderick fancies himself to be from the same artistic mould as, say, Byron and Rimbaud, a man at once anguished and arrogant. For that reason, I still don't want to like The Long Winters. But I do. I can't help it. There is an insidiously endearing quality to the debut album, much like the one his ex-girlfriends, not without some lingering resentment, seem to have found in Roderick himself.
— earpollution; Eric J. Iannelli; May 20, 2002

“most diverse indie rock”

It has the essence of a great '90s indie rock classic, yet it doesn't sound outdated. The rest of the album maintains that feel. I can't put my finger on what it is exactly; The Long Winters sound like they showed up a couple of years too late, but managed to regroup and throw some modernity and relevance into their sound. The result is one of the best and most diverse indie rock (I know that term gets thrown around a lot, but it seems to fit here) albums I've heard in quite awhile.
— Flagpole; Sam Gunn, Feb. 27, 2002

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