Holograms – Holograms

Release Date: July 10th, 2012
Reviewed By Court Smoots

I had heard so much about Swedish quartet Holograms leading up to their self-titled debut release. I heard they were dirt poor kids like oh so many “starving artists”. I heard they played less then well kempt instruments, again a staple of rock lore from days gone past. And I heard they all worked in a factory together in Stockholm, not even making enough money to buy booze, ok I actually find that one kind of interesting. Regardless, the hype machine was on full tilt prior to their records release so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I popped it on. What did I end up getting once I did? Unbelievably well done Gutter-Pop, just a beautifully melodic mix of punk and surf rock influenced jams mashed together with super shimmery keyboard overlays, and screaming vocals.

These guys really know how to write a song and I have a pretty good feeling they won’t be holding down those shite paying factory jobs for much longer. Seriously this record is a breeze, every single song including the more punk influenced ones are so well done that your listening experience is never interrupted with an out of place or ill fated tune. The whole record is just bliss, especially when you’re expecting ultra heavy in you face Swedish punk. I mean I love what Refused do but I’m not always exactly in the mood for it. That said I could listen to this record everyday for a week and I’m sure I’d never grow tired of it.

In preparation for this review I’ve been scouring the Internet for a few days looking for background information on the band, such as where they’re from (got that), what their names are (nothing) and who’s responsible for what parts of the song writing process (again nothing). Now there could be a few reasons for the lack of information on the band, we’ve already talked about their financial situation so I’m sure there probably isn’t a working computer between the four of them to put together a band website, a Facebook, a Twitter, yada, yada, yada (Seinfeld drop). Though in all honesty they don’t exactly seem like the social networking type, so maybe they just don’t care if people know who they are, I mean that’d be quite punk of them wouldn’t it? Nevertheless they’re great, so I don’t care if no information ever comes out about them, though I’m sure the brilliance of this record will force something to the surface.

I’m not going to do my usual “this song was great because of this” bit which is sometimes necessary to highlight the better songs and lead you to a quick fix of good music if you don’t feel like listening to the whole record (shame on you). But that isn’t needed this time around. Simply put and put again THIS RECORD IS GREAT, so head over to iTunes or Captured Tracks or wherever and pick it up, you’ll be more then happy you did.