The festive season will soon be upon us and as the year hauls its cadaverous austerity riven remains over the finishing line, we give you fair warning that anybody involved in the field of music media will soon be publishing their “best of 2013 ” lists. Yup they will be all over the internet like irate Daily Mail readers trolling a Guardian Editorial comments section. There will be no hiding place! Resistance is futile!
Without giving too much away, we can reveal that ‘Amethyst’ by LA trio The Happy Hollows will occupy a somewhat lofty position in our much revered :) album of the year list. It’s a dizzying mix of synth pop and spiralling guitars featuring the towering almost semi operatic vocals of singer and guitarist Sarah Negahdari, who has recently been moonlighting as a member of The Silver Sun Pickups. If you’re the sort of person who likes musical points of reference, then at certain junctures within the album you may discern hints of Ladytron, Blondie, New Order, Metric, Selebrities, and even a dash of Polica and Zola Jesus. And if that doesn’t have you practically soiling yourself with excitement we can only assume you’ve either overdosed on Imodium or inadvertently arrived here after googling “Visual Process Management Engine (VPME.)”
The band’s sound has taken a seismic shift from eccentric off kilter grungy indie to their current synth driven manifestation. This huge sea change was due in no small part to the fact that their original drummer Chris sadly had to quit the band. Rather than replace him Sarah and bassist Charlie Mahoney started building their new songs around drum machines, synths, and loops. With the addition of Matt Fry as a second guitarist to add more depth and texture to their sound, The Happy Hollows have fashioned a glorious, majestic album, which is without doubt one of the best of 2013.
And here’s another track which isn’t on the album but is the B-side of ‘Amethyst’ (single)
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