The Holidays :: Post Paradise

The Holidays have become Sydney’s darlings of rock-pop, with their blend of 80’s synth, jungle rhythms and chilled back vocals that have infected audiences nationwide. Initially the band had a rockier outfit, with a repertoire akin to the sounds of The Strokes and The Cure. With their debut album Post Paradise however, they’ve taken a more experimental turn, opting for layers of synths and drum-machines over the conventional sounds we’re used to from four-piece rock bands. Ever since the release of Post Paradise, which has received rave reviews from various publications such as The Herald Sun, (who gave it four and a half stars), Drum Media and Brag Magazine (who both dubbed it their album of the week), the Sydney boys have been very busy. Earlier this year they embarked on a national tour with Bluejuice, and the coming summer will see sets at The Hot Barbeque in Victoria and Laneway festivals to name a few.

Post Paradise is at a glance, refreshing. The boys took their time to produce it (themselves) for obvious reasons, unwilling to splurge onto the scene with something shallow and ephemeral which would have been typical for the amount of hype they were receiving prior to its release. The late September release for the album was an obvious strategic choice – the underlying intention being that it come out just in time for Summer when the majority of Australia will be, mind the pun, Holidaying. While it looks like we’re in for a wet summer, Post Paradise will nonetheless provide the perfect BBQ soundtrack, with a good mix of summery feel-good tunes in “Golden Sky”, “Moonlight Hours” and “Broken Bones”, getting you in the mood even if you are undercover from the rain. These songs have been inventively produced, with interesting synth lines and overall arrangement. “Moonlight Hours”, for example, was coincidentally the album’s first single, and uses marimbas, congas, a repeated guitar melody as well as midi-sounds to create a euphony of contagious sound. It reminds me of Talking Heads or Television – a bit kooky sounding but still accessibly distinct.

Post Paradise works because the band creatively combines different elements of retro-pop to create their sound, while still keeping their roots in the traditional four-piece mould. The result is something of a healthy mix between Phoenix and legendary Australian band The Go-Betweens. Imagine if ‘2 Days’ and ‘Indian Summer Anniversary’ were sung in French, you’d swear they were salvaged from some Phoenix lost tapes somewhere. ‘6am’ is distinctly The Holidays sounding, drenched in melody that gives it a chilled out dreamy like quality with atmospheric vocals and instrumentation…a song you might like to wake up to on a Sunday morning. Just not at 6am. Who wants to wake up that early on a Sunday? ‘Slimeface’ is perhaps the weakest song on the album, and sounds somewhat half-finished only because of the complexity with which the rest of the album is produced. For how simple it is it is frankly too long. The album’s closer, ‘A Million Eyes’ is a heavier, dancier ballad, and sees the band experiment with the depth of sound they can create with their chosen palette.

On the whole the album is undeniably strong. It’s got enough variety to warrant a few listens, even though there are standouts in the mix, like ‘Golden Sky’ or ‘Moonlight Hours’ which seem to rise above the rest for their melodic sophistication. My biggest criticism of the album is singer Simon Jones’ vocals. At times they seem apt, and it would be hard to imagine a different tonal quality accompany the music. But on the whole his voice is thin and lacks a quality that we want to dive into. If you listen to Talking Heads, the lead vocals are as much an instrument as the synths themselves, whereas with The Holidays, Jones’ vocals are too thin in places to make much of an impact or give variety. I would hope in future releases that they circumvent this by doing some more mash-ups, maybe with Jones singing verses and another artist doing the chorus or something similar. Seeing as the band already uses so many samples this would be a logical progression. In the meantime, Post Paradise is a strong debut from The Holidays, made even better by the fact that we can call them our own.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

7.5/10 Stars.

Highlights :: 'Golden Sky', 'Moonlight Hours' & '6am'