Holiday Shores’ new album Columbus’d The Whim is the latest ejaculation from the mind of Nathan Pemberton, the Tallahassee native who brought you the Continental Divide. Of the Continental Divide’s Golden Throats, one reviewer (not myself – let’s call him Agent Piss Kopf) remarked that it was “a shabby collection of five imperfect songs—which isn’t meant as a slight.” If that’s not a slight, I think this article will go down as a rave review! Holiday Shores has put out a fine release with Columbus’d The Whim, with more than a few tracks that will find their way onto your turntable.
At its best, Holiday Shores uses smart arrangements and a good ear for sonic textures to deliver up sun n’ fun vibes underscored by a certain sweaty winsomeness. Tracks like “Phones Don’t Feud” and “Bradley Bear” conspire to get your booty on the dance floor with good old Telecaster rock n’ roll boogie reverbed to the point of ultra-hustle. In fact, these songs sometimes sound like “dance remix” versions of themselves when Holiday Shores employs the repetitive strategies of The Strokes, or Animal Collective (QRO album review). The songs reach a buzzy, effervescent pitch and sustain the moment in achingly sweet indie tropisms. The highs of Columbus’d The Whim come faster and more frequently than the lows, but this reviewer could have lived without the track “I’ll Spend Money I Don’t Have” – a spacey meditation on pocket change.
If there is any truth to Agent Piss Kopf’s remark, it mostly lies in the laissez-faire atmosphere permeating the production of Columbus’d The Whim. This album was produced in a living room, not a million dollar studio. That’s fine with me and most any indie rock fan worth their salt, but Holiday Shore sometimes reaches for the stars when they should be reaching for the ceiling. The band, as a unit, doesn’t seem to currently have the resources to meet their intricate and nuanced musical vision. Epic, panoramic soundscapes that would have worked with Thom Yorke on vocals (and Nigel Goderich twiddling the knobs) fall flat at times on Columbus’d The Whim – and an excess of reverb is no cure-all.
But who’s complaining when this much summer fun has been shoehorned into a single album? Mr. Pemberton clearly knows how to write a beautiful pop song. With a little more time to come together as a band – instead of a project – the gentlemen from Tallahassee could turn the corner and surprise you. Holiday Shores could be on the verge of something big.
MP3 Stream: "Phones Don’t Feud"
– Mike Gutierrez
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