“Indeed, it would be easy to fob off Holopaw as another American band doing beautiful acoustic things not-quite-as-successfully as some of their fellow countrymen.”
“Indeed, it would be easy to fob off Holopaw as another American band doing beautiful acoustic things not-quite-as-successfully as some of their fellow countrymen.”
Holopaw – Quit +/or Fight
During the writing of Quit +/Or Fight, Holopaw toured with Iron & Wine. Their influence is certainly present here with the breezy but delicately understated melodies and tender vocals. Indeed, it would be easy to fob off Holopaw as another American band doing beautiful acoustic things not-quite-as-successfully as some of their fellow countrymen. Surprisingly though, beneath what is really a rather uninspiring exterior, one can discover at least a glimmer of something a bit different – gentle electronica, intelligent and innovative arrangements and astute lyrical content. Whether or not Holopaw are successful in putting an engaging twist on what is in reality a rather unremarkable set of folk songs is a different matter.
Losing Light starts promisingly enough with its Shins-ish melody and driving, infectious percussion. Guitars chime as emotional and vague lyrics are intoned gently, “And the swallows behind your head gather the edges of the snowblink sky.” Pretty but not exactly what you’d call life changing. Curious suffers from similar lyrical problems, and also manages to sound like a wintry version of Reno Dakota by the Magnetic Fields.
Indeed, the whole album has a wintry, slightly melancholy atmosphere: “Without a thought he said, ‘Go, Dasher, Go Dancer'”, so making Velveteen a natural successor to Joni Mitchell’s River, yet only with a fraction of her emotion. Perhaps one of the problems here is that for all Holopaw’s emotion it all feels a little contrived; melancholy references to Christmas, the tender “oooh”-ing at the end of Little Shaver and the cute little keyboard lines.
That’s not to say they don’t ever get it right. As you listen, you’re certainly struck by Holopaw’s earnestness and their desire to make you feel something. It certainly isn’t ‘fake’ music made by some sort of folk-hipster collective somehow combining beards and skinny jeans. But somehow there is no edge to it. There is no bitterness or anger to grab the listener’s attention; nor is it twee enough to appeal to the pathetic, soppy side of us.
The real problem lies not only in the songs lack of strength, but also in the album’s length. At barely over thirty minutes, there isn’t enough development in Holopaw’s songs. The shorter pieces are too short to ever grab any attention, and this isn’t helped by their softness. It is barely evident that songs like Clearing have started before they are over. The longer pieces on the other hand, like album closer Shiver Me, have a severe lack of dynamics. The potential is there, but their lack of movement causes them to teeter on the edge of becoming background music. Quit +/Or Fight therefore stands as an unremarkably pleasant album of American folk in a genre already flooded with greats.
Words: Tristan Burke.