HOLY HAIL: THE DYING AFTER PARTY

[rating:3]

Holy Hail: The Dying After Party
Label: Holy Hail
Release Date: June 15, 2010

Hailing from Brooklyn, the epicenter of all that is righteous and current, Holy Hail is a young four-piece band with a new EP called The Dying After Party.  Highlighting a blend of electronic and acoustic elements the band has supported The Rapture and New Young Pony Club across the pond and The Klaxons and Art Brut stateside. The Dying After Party mines reverbed synths, eerie atmospherics, interlocking male/female vocals and staunch drum patterns to produce a modern twist on an 80s new wave sound.

A fuzzy production quality is clearly intentional and through it the band sustains a turbulent mood throughout. Distorted electronics form a hazy bedrock for the band to layer echoed vocals and steady drums up front. While this unkempt production quality is likely the product of focused effort its product is an icy, detached tone that detracts from the creativity occurring in the actual synth playing.

A combination of minor chords and chanted lyrics create a gothic, vibrant and almost bratty pulse to “Marry on Mountaintops”.  Pleasant tremolo guitar sounds seep into “Creaking Cries”, a slower number that gains steam as it burns.   The band is able to channel a subdued version of Galaxie 500’s classic, melancholic lurch in the album’s last song “Carry On”. Acoustic guitars and locked in synths propel the music skyward in a mournful cry that resonates with real feeling, sadly too often absent inside the stilted texture of the album.

Admittedly, gloomy new wave bands have never been terribly intoxicating to me and Holy Hail won’t change that.  They certainly have spunk but the vocals become grating as the EP chugs along and I am challenged to see people dancing to this music but I know it happens. While opener “What its Like to Go Away” enters the race strong, dub-soaked drums and chilly synths collide with a gorgeous, simple guitar line, the absence of a propulsive bass line leaves me yearning for more rhythm, a glaring omission in the band’s overall sound. The lack of swing and groove is probably an unfair complaint – this is clearly not the band’s aim – nonetheless the music has a linear feel that dries out too quickly.

-Chris Calarco