I first came across the live monster which is Holloway at CrushFest last year at Tuning Fork when Lou Valentine (vocals, guitar), Max Long (guitar) and Taylor Criscuola (drums) ended the night. Since then, they have been making the trek north to Auckland fairly regularly as these Wellington lads are very much in demand up here, and deservedly so. Talk to Lou Valentine before a show and one can only wonder why such a nice lad is in a rock band, and then as soon as he hits the stage, he is in total diva mode while Taylor normally starts the night playing in a rubber mask and Max does he best not to be left behind. But, for all their antics on stage, the blue hair, the makeup, what makes this trio really stand out is they have great songs, with Crush being a fine example of that.
It may be less than three minutes in length, but has multiple sections with the song starting with picked guitar and Lou’s vocals singing gently; then Taylor provides some nice patterns, and the song builds until we hit the chorus and we are firmly in Green Day/Blink 182 territory. Now we are crunching along and the only thing to do is jump around like loonies, until it suddenly stops and takes us into the next verse back in a much gentler and poppy style (except listen to the drums in the background). The second chorus crunches again, and then we riff through the bridge until Lou comes back as if it was the first verse again and then we blast through the final chorus. It ends on a note which leaves us asking for more, so we put it on repeat (at least I did). It is awesome to hear a great live band able to get into a studio and capture that magic, so now all I want is an album! Until then, Holloway is a band already making an impact on the live scene and I know this single is going to find them on the airwaves as well.
Rating: 10/10
