When QRO reviewed Holiday Shores’ LP Columbus’d the Whim we were impressed by the effortless pop effervescence of the music, but a little put off by the sometimes sloppy delivery and OD-levels of reverb. Having enjoyed an advance listen to New Masses For Squaw Peak, the latest LP, we can’t say that the ship has been altogether righted, but the worst excesses of the former album have been smoothed over enough to make for a solid listen in line with the airy guitar picking themes of Ducktails, the island beats of Vampire Weekend, and the willful spaciness of a lost reel from Brian Wilson.
"Injun" is a nice, loose, laidback jam that forgoes some of the more difficult and experimental turns of New Masses For Squaw Peak in favor of more cleanly drawn pop lines. "Squaw Peak" dials up the ambient spaciness with a quiet meditative delivery that epitomizes some of the more delicate shades of this album. "Threepeat Got Old" ventures into lo-fi prog rock territory. And "Spells" fires up a hockey-organ-meets-tropical-luau vibe.
New Masses For Squaw Peak should be available on two syllable records sometime in September. Until then, have a listen to older stuff at the Bandcamp, stream the four tracks below, say hi on Twitter, and find links to all their interwebz jointz via Facebook. Cheers!
"Injun" (REMOVED AT MANAGEMENT'S REQUEST)
{audio}http://www.qromag.com/images/blog/Injun.mp33{/audio}
"Squaw Peak" (REMOVED AT MANAGEMENT'S REQUEST)
{audio}http://www.qromag.com/images/blog/Squaw%20Peak.mp33{/audio}
"Threepeat Got Old"
{audio}http://www.qromag.com/images/blog/Threepeat%20Got%20Old.mp3{/audio}
"Spells"
{audio}http://www.qromag.com/images/blog/Spells.mp3{/audio}
