by LORRAINE CARPENTER

It’s not easy being an orchestral pop sextet in Valleyfield, QC. Punk, metal and cover bands occupy the town’s smattering of live music venues, including the bar affectionately known as “B.O.” (Brasserie Olympique), where Harvee might never have been booked if it weren’t for the popularity of singer Phil Guérin’s old band, who played Pearl Jam covers.

Now on the opposite end of the rock spectrum, and playing Montreal regularly (and B.O. biannually, for friends and family), Guérin and Marc-André Gagnon (guitar, keys, percussion), Mathieu Dubé (bass), Nicolas Bérubé (drums), Carine Durocher (keys, trumpet, glockenspiel, melodica) and Patrick Caza (keys, guitar) make music with a heavy Britpop accent, recalling bands such as Belle and Sebastian, Morrissey and Pulp. Though they’ve yet to release any material, apart from a song and a half on their Web site, Harvee have been listed alongside the Dears and Stars in the second wave of features on the Montreal sound, on MusiquePlus, in Voir and in France’s Les Inrockuptibles. Until now, coverage of the francophone band has been entirely French, despite their English lyrics.

“I tried, but I really suck at writing in French,” Guérin admits. “It was an artistic-driven decision, to sing in English, not a commercial decision. I just preferred the sound of English on our music.”

Of course, their influences are almost all anglo, but not necessarily English. They’re fans of the current Canadian crop, and one band in particular helped to keep their hope alive.

“Three years ago, we saw Broken Social Scene, and that show gave us the confidence that we could continue to do the kind of music we were doing.” The Toronto collective didn’t directly inspire Harvee’s music, but the sheer number of bodies and instruments on stage meant that such an ambitious undertaking could work, and “break through.”

Their ability to break will be tested when Harvee release their Howard Bilerman-produced debut album sometime this summer. They’ve flirted with a few labels, but the band just wants to get a record out as fast as possible, independently.

“We wanna live out of the music, but we’re doing it because we really like to do it.”

With Surface at Main Hall on Saturday, March 18, 9 p.m., $6

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