Holopaw

“A queer, a Peruvian, a redneck, a burnout and an asshole walk into a bar…” Holopaw’s Michael Johnson on Holopaw. 


Gainesville, Florida's Holopaw are back after a four year hiatus with their latest record "Oh, Glory. Oh, Wilderness". Since their debut on SubPop in 2003, Holopaw have gone through some personnel changes and have evolved their sound a bit from a more alt-country/indie Americana band with electronic elements to something more akin to The Decemberists. 

John Orth's slight vibrato and earnest lyrics float atop still jangly guitars and orchestral instrumentation as we follow the story of "The Little Stallion" throughout the record. The opening track "The Art Teacher and the Little Stallion" begins quietly but develops into a rich, full band effort carried along by lovely harmonies, violin melodies, and Orth's casually beautiful vocal delivery. The rest of the album continues in a similar vain with tracks like Black Lacquered Shame, Little Stallion with a Glass Jaw and the aforementioned opener being stand outs for me. 

Besides the album being available now on Bakery Outlet Records, Holopaw also has a related art project on their website. The band asked two dozen artists to take a listen to the new record and respond visually. Over the next several weeks they will be posting the artwork inspired by "Oh, Glory. Oh, Wilderness" with the first submission from Brief Magazine's Topher Sinkinson depicting Cristiano Ronaldo, a matador and a gay rainbow pictured above. Check out Holopaw's website for more on this project and other news. 

0 comments:

Post a Comment