On the week of possibly the most important and almost revolutionary British general election for decades, (As a Labour voter, I'm incredibly disappointed and dumbfounded by the sheer audacity shown by Theresa May and her hypocritical notion of a DUP coalition...shame on you, you baggy-eyed, spineless sack of upper-class twattery! Do yourself and everyone in this country a favour, do another u-turn but this time, fuck off out of No.10!) it's ironic that we find ourselves heading to St Ives, Cambridge...the home of historical political figurehead Oliver Cromwell...for our next band; HOLLOWSTAR. Formed in 2015, the four-piece (consisting of bassist/vocalist Joe Bonson, drummer Jack Bonson and guitarists Phil Haines and Tom Collett) have just released their debut EP entitled "Some Things Matter"...vague indeed...let's check their musical manifesto...
We begin with "Lay Down" and they've opted for a feel of authenticity from the word go...you can hear the guitars being plugged in, the feedback brief but clear, offering the impression of "we're a live band, we're a bands band" and while some would be torn between cliche and cringe-worthy, it's actually a refreshing change...too many bands want the studio mix to sound perfect instead of having any level of character and sometimes you just can't polish a turd y'know? The song itself is quite slow in a southern blues rock sense; the riffs are solid and it rumbles along as standard, coupled with the semi-gritty vocals and a pleasant solo, it's a good opening track. "Holding It Together" follows up immediately and the brief drum-lead intro carries into more of the same as above really...the riffs are again, decent, there's an old-school honesty to their playing, it's rich in that classic style; no nonsense and down to business but a little samey...
"Feel The Burn" has a distinctively mellower feel to it, from it's stripped down intro to the drawn out, soulful notes of Joe's vocals...it's a deeper song and would easily appeal to fans of say, THUNDER or early BON JOVI in it's own way and despite it's tone is far from a mid-EP lull, before EP highlight "New Age Lullaby" ironically takes it up a few gears...it's back to their beloved brand of bluesy hard-rock but this time they've brought along a lot more swagger; it's more up-beat and is brilliantly passionate, they really found their stride here...sadly however, "Future City" falls back into an almost by-numbers approach to this genre and it doesn't incite a great deal of enthusiasm, and closing track "Guilty" really just, fails to inspire for more or less the same reasons...
If you're a fan of the likes of BLACK STONE CHERRY, HEAVEN'S BASEMENT and SILVERTIDE for example, odds on you'll love this, it ticks all of those boxes but over the six songs provided it really does little more than slot itself into that pigeonhole...the playing is good, the band are good, there are passionate moments yes, but there isn't really enough to make them stand out other than they are a good band...and as arse-backwards as that sounds, it's true. For all the talent they have, they really have nailed this genre I wont deny that but, their sound comes across as, well, boring. According to the exit polls, this EP's election only got a 50% turnout...[5]
We begin with "Lay Down" and they've opted for a feel of authenticity from the word go...you can hear the guitars being plugged in, the feedback brief but clear, offering the impression of "we're a live band, we're a bands band" and while some would be torn between cliche and cringe-worthy, it's actually a refreshing change...too many bands want the studio mix to sound perfect instead of having any level of character and sometimes you just can't polish a turd y'know? The song itself is quite slow in a southern blues rock sense; the riffs are solid and it rumbles along as standard, coupled with the semi-gritty vocals and a pleasant solo, it's a good opening track. "Holding It Together" follows up immediately and the brief drum-lead intro carries into more of the same as above really...the riffs are again, decent, there's an old-school honesty to their playing, it's rich in that classic style; no nonsense and down to business but a little samey...
"Feel The Burn" has a distinctively mellower feel to it, from it's stripped down intro to the drawn out, soulful notes of Joe's vocals...it's a deeper song and would easily appeal to fans of say, THUNDER or early BON JOVI in it's own way and despite it's tone is far from a mid-EP lull, before EP highlight "New Age Lullaby" ironically takes it up a few gears...it's back to their beloved brand of bluesy hard-rock but this time they've brought along a lot more swagger; it's more up-beat and is brilliantly passionate, they really found their stride here...sadly however, "Future City" falls back into an almost by-numbers approach to this genre and it doesn't incite a great deal of enthusiasm, and closing track "Guilty" really just, fails to inspire for more or less the same reasons...
If you're a fan of the likes of BLACK STONE CHERRY, HEAVEN'S BASEMENT and SILVERTIDE for example, odds on you'll love this, it ticks all of those boxes but over the six songs provided it really does little more than slot itself into that pigeonhole...the playing is good, the band are good, there are passionate moments yes, but there isn't really enough to make them stand out other than they are a good band...and as arse-backwards as that sounds, it's true. For all the talent they have, they really have nailed this genre I wont deny that but, their sound comes across as, well, boring. According to the exit polls, this EP's election only got a 50% turnout...[5]
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