Weekly Release Spotlight - Holy F***
Posted on 11/19/2007
Holy F***
LP
[Young Turks]
Swearing can be fun. Swearing can be forceful. Toronto's Holy F*** can, nay, is both--to the nth degree. One could easily ramble incessantly in disfavor of the duo's "uncouth" appellation, but it really is one of the most apt band names that at least this music lover has ever encountered. When one's jaw drops whilst listening to rock music (which by the way, does not happen nearly as often as it should), a rock music appreciator does not spout, "Ah, the trembling might of the guitar!" No, when you're rocking out and your mind orgasms from a combination of volume, patterned noise, and general aural ecstasy, you exclaim either loudly or in a minor whisper, "Holy F***."
And yet, the six-stringed ax is nowhere to be found on this beautiful cacophony of an album. Wait, there's also no singer? That's right--Holy F*** manage to seduce and terrorize with only a mess of electronics (I don't even know what this means other than wires and buttons everywhere), a splattering of keyboards, and two what have to be mammoth drum kits. The word "mammoth" is essential to this equation. Without the wail of a voice or a wicked guitar solo, Holy F*** have to make every snare hit, every cymbal crash, every keystroke or ivory chord sound like a sack of bricks socking you in the face. While its intensity is by far the dominating factor on LP, it'd be unfair not to mention that this intensity has a playful heart at its center.
This isn't just crass noisy rock music minus guitars and singing. This is gorgeous melodic crassness that pleases the ear just as much as it deafens it. Owen Pallett, aka Final Fantasy, lends his touching violin to "Lovely Allen," which could just as easily soundtrack a tearful slow-motion denouement to your new favorite movie as it could be headbanged to in earnest. Questionable vocals arise slightly underneath the percussive foreground of "Royal Gregory," but never intrude or detract from the album's main objective--to have fun, forcefully. This album is bona fide proof that rock music can be genuinely enjoyable and experimental at the same time, even if you can't shout along to its choruses.
Written by Chris Polley, volunteer and DJ at Radio K. His specialty show, Nowlikephotographs, plays the best in epic instrumental music every Sunday from 4-6pm and is also featuring Holy F*** as the Instrumental Record of the Week over at their web site nowlikephotographs.com and via their weekly podcast, which is available for free subscription through iTunes.
Stream: Holy F - Lovely Allen
Radio K Presents Holy F*** and A Place to Bury Strangers at the Triple Rock Social Club on Monday, February, February 18th. Doors 9pm. 21+.