Holy Fuck :: Stilettos
Indian Jewelry :: Oceans
If opposites really do attract, it makes perfect sense that Holy Fuck would chose a barn in rural Ontario to record a series of dynamic electro-noise pop that compose their latest full-length release, titled Latin. Where Holy Fuck in the past were a rotating cast of musicians, Latin showcases for the first time their consistent touring line up. Drummer Matt Schulz and bass player Matt McQuaid provide a complex rhythm foundation that at times feels like an invisible hand leading you through a dark hedge maze. Perhaps an excessive feat for most, but this provides the ideal underpinning as Brian Borcherdt and Graham Walsh merge a twin effects/feedback tangle that is equal parts entrancing and inspiring. The band had an absurdly busy touring schedule in 2008/2009 and Latin undoubtedly benefited from the near nightly shows. There is an added dimension of song craft on the album – Latin brings noise and melody together with an uncanny sense of optimism – but at the same time Holy Fuck have not lost the chaotic and euphoric energy that they are known for. When it came time for Holy Fuck to record, songs were cut live off the floor during their brief downtime at home. Delivered in trimesters, Latin was engineered by Graham Walsh and mixed by Dave Newfeld (Broken Social Scene), D. Sardy (Johnny Cash, NIN), Eli Janney (GvsB, Wilco,), Paul Epworth (Bloc Party, Primal Scream) and Holy Fuck themselves. It’s the follow up to 2007’s simply titled LP which Filter described as “nine perversely noisy, mind-bogglingly ferocious freakouts” and Spin said of it “Holy Fuck play the sort of id-gripping dance rock that’s best experienced in person. Luckily (LP) retains the raw energy of the live show, even without the visual barrage.” With high praise from peers, critics, big name endorsements and ascension on festival bills, Holy Fuck have the divine right to be profane. And with respected music luminaries Thom Yorke and Lou Reed passing on kind words about studio recordings and live performances, it’s no wonder Holy Fuck have become sought after.
Indian Jewelry is a van gang from Houston, Texas. I to the J. Blood on the streets.
TOTALED is their latest record, and their third album for We Are Free/Monitor Records.
TOTALED is weird, dirty and to the point, a direct line to the one true Indian Jewelry under Heaven.
No genre, no rules, no help.
IJ hasn’t turned away from cracked cymbals, feedback, and burning amps. They’re running them through more fx.
Erika Thrasher and Tex Kerschen wrote and recorded the record in 2009 in Houston and Los Angeles. TOTALED is the sum of hundreds of shows on the road and hundreds of hours under headphones. The songs were developed with Richard Durham, Mary Sharpe, and Rodney Rodriguez.
TOTALED is a crash course in sound + vision. In it is the swamp electro of 2003s We Are The Wild Beast, the nightmare throb of 2005s Invasive Exotics, and the sonic angel dream of 2008s Free Gold. This is an encounter with the true and the truly fucked up woozy and heartpounding and subject to double-vision.
It’s like arriving to the beach, headspun and weightless after a sleepless night, only to remember that a hurricane has come and wiped almost everything away. Hard grass crawls back over the improvised dunes, a few men fish in the surf, and Tejano music plays from the speakers of a parked pick-up.
If you’re hearing funk, that’s because they spend their time at home playing in Houston’s Prince cover band Diamonds+Pearls.
If you’re hearing anything else, that’s the sound of Houston underwater.
