3 out of 5

Label: Misra

Produced by: Holopaw?

You’ve listened to the pop folk of Holopaw’s previous albums and you’re probably surprised by the sudden drum rush clatter of opening track ‘Academy.’  But it’s just an intro track, a minute and some seconds long, so certainly it will lead in to quieter fare… only it doesn’t.  Followup ‘Golden Sparklers’ builds on the clatter and adds layers of vocals and instruments, peeling in and out of its five and a half minute runtime before resolving into a brash clash of lead John Orth’s croon and an aggressive pummeling of drums.  It’s an impressive – and exhaustive – track that swings from one style to another without feeling disorganized, but without feeling like one cohesive song, either, except that you hear some themes and lines repeat that do seem to tie it together.  It’s one of Holopaw’s best moments.  Smartly, Orth and crew don’t try to top it with the next track, ‘Diamonds,’ though – you start to notice – there’s a general looping song structure that seems to be repeating.  The softer ‘Bedfellows Farewell’ tinkles for a few minutes before ‘Dirty Boots (He Don’t)’ and ‘We Are the Virgin Snow’ approach in a similar method as ‘Sparklers’ and ‘Diamonds.’  What you are hearing is an attempt to create a narrative, and themes, supposedly something about a boys’ academy.  Unfortunately, Holopaw’s translation of this it to continually recycle lyrics and songs.  While the underlying textures and build-ups are appealing and equal some solid standouts like ‘Infidels,’ the overly-cyclical setup makes it hard to feel like you’re actually progressing through the album.

It’s still an impressively cohesive and bold listen from what was previously always a ‘precious’ sounding band, but Orth’s open lyrical writing style isn’t shaped sharper by limiting himself to set themes and the repetitive nature of certain musical elements throughout can make it hard to hear how geniously produced and layered some tracks are.