It's gratifying to see so many bands exploring the possibilities of melodic Eighties Indie guitars and plaintive, lovelorn vocals. It's one of the decades' finest musical legacies after all. So whether the starting point is The Feelies, Orange Juice, Smiths, Miracle Legion, R.E.M, Paisley Underground, Flying Nun or C-86 it's great that this moment and the wonderful records it produced is still seen as offering a treasure trove of pleasures and opportunities thirty years on.
The latest kids on this particular block are Brooklyn's Holy Tunics who released their debut album Butter Dish about a month back. It jangles, it chimes, it yearns, it makes you feel that you still have a decent fringe again and have just turned eighteen. It's altogether rather lovely. Coming hot on the heels of the fabulous Lawn debut Blood On The Tracks which I've been singing the praises of over the last couple of days, it's another sign if one is needed that 2018 has no end of wonderful guitar bands to enjoy if you just scratch beneath the surface. I give you Lawn, Say Sue Me, Olden Yolk Salad Boys and Nap Eyes. And now Holy Tunics. And that's just for starters.
Holy Tunics can stand pretty much shoulder to shoulder with any one of them. They take familiar ingredients but are no mere imitators, there's real lyrical guile and melodic muscle and to every track on Butter Dish. This may well serve as a tasty entree for the much-awaited Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever album which comes into port in a couple of weeks and draws on a similar musical heritage. June it seems is busting out all over!!!
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