Holding Back Entirely
The Saint
December 28, 2011
ASBURY PARK, NJ—The time between Christmas and New Year’s can be a strange and depressing space. What with the culmination of Santa’s cruel jokes and guilt stacked up from the past year of bad habits running through your head, it is no wonder everyone has to get out of the house and into a loud bar. At least that was my thought on the whole thing. The bonus is that when I got there, I found a pleasant and talented distraction by way of a band called Holding Back Entirely. This Brooklyn-based foursome was quick on the attention span of the often distracted Saint crowd, snapping heads towards the stage in celebration of their latest disk, titled Faster Than Possible.
Holding Back Entirely plays music for the sheer sake of interaction and enjoyment. Moreover, along the way, they have come up with a pop-tinged formula that fuels their ongoing journey with economical flair and jubilant panache. Their unique blend of intricate keyboard and guitar fare is much more than typical or generic. Their intertwining, melancholy melodies infused with sparkling guitar puts HBE legions ahead of most standard pop-rock troubadours.
Songs in the set varied and they highlighted many from this latest record. Standouts were the Lost In Translation feel of “Between Here And Cancer.” This song swings with a hypnotic, down-vamped melody in the artistic realms of The Smiths and Death In Vegas. An arabesque journey of intertwined sound and melody that stays with the listener long after the song has ended. String arrangements clash into crystal clean, down-stroked guitars as vocalist Nikolaus Schuhbeck lays into the backbone of this tune like Lennon on 1973’s Mind Games. Yuki Ishiba is the hand up Mona Lisa’s skirt on this one, quietly driving the dynamic cornucopia of synthesizers like a compositional banshee.
“C’Mon, C’mon!” is the standout rocker on the disc and immediately brings back great influential memories of The Pixies and The Breeders in their heydays. Schuhbeck’s guitar tone is massive and compliments his full-throttled vocal well. The pre-chorus is smart and builds the hell out of the chorus. Andrea Monorchio and Pat Agresta provide the low-end muscle. These two may be support in the general terminology of rock bands, but their individual styles are monstrous and they provide thick backbeats and rumble as Yuki and Nikolaus take them into the stratosphere on this great, rock and roll snarler.
“Petting The Cat” is another interesting track off Faster Than Possible. Schuhbeck’s plaintive, Tom Petty-styled wail mixes amongst chimey, Eve 6-drenched Fenders and swirling fleurons of organ and synth magic. The desolate melody hook freefalls into the middle eight and shimmers with subsonic guitar glimmer and desolate synth chatter before returning to the main theme. E-bowed six-string moans into pedal steel bliss as Schuhbeck shows why the band’s crossover potential is greater than most. This song could easily see action on multiple chart scenes as well as any college playlist.
“You Come Around” jangles with acoustic class. Harmonies soar in perfect pitch, as Nikolaus waxes poetic on the prodigal return of someone who comes around when “there’s nowhere left to go.” String arrangements stay out of the way and enhance the simple structure and melody of the song.
The loose feel of “With Your Head Below Your Heart” reminds me of good Soul Asylum. Stepping up and down the plectrum of sound, HBE pushes the limit in freeform alternative sound. The song flows structured but unfettered in its quest to deliver individual interpretation and meaning to the listener. Schuhbeck once again raises the vocal inflections of Petty as he soars on jangle-based guitar. Analog warm and channeled in echo, his playing is both melodic and compositionally economic.
“Calm As The Sea” picks up the pace with its Elvis Costello slant and off-kilter rhythm structure. HBE locks into its own special groove here and uses lyrical voodoo to get its point across. The chorus is bare bones delightful and the follow-up guitar patterns refocus the verse perfectly. This is a perfect example of originality and creative exploration that music depends on for survival. Riffs dart between great, big swatches of keyboard magic. “Calm as The Sea” is sure to be the second stormy showing on the disc.
Holding Back Entirely is a band that embraces everything they have lived to date. Rolled out in a big top of imaginative sound, their new record, Faster Than Possible, is a non-stop main event of rock, pop and musical sculpture for fans and the yet to be converted. Give it a listen and I am sure you will join their growing fan base. For more information on Holding Back Entirely, head over to holdingbackentirely.com.
Rock Ridge Music Launches Hotel Carolina On The City Of Brotherly Love
Newark, New Jersey-based Rock Ridge Music is the host of singer-songwriter festival Hotel Carolina. The reason you need to know about the Rock Ridge family is so you understand the expertise, knowledge and passion that has gone into this ongoing and outstanding festival. Rock Ridge Music is much more than a common grass roots company, combining artist management, new releases and media solutions for both independent and major labels. Their founders have the influence and vision to, not only make a festival work, but to fill it with fans and top-notch performers.
Hotel Carolina is the brainchild of founders Tom Derr and Jason Spiewak. Both held previous high-level positions at major labels such as RCA and A&M as well as Universal and TVT Records. Add third partner Chris Henderson (guitarist for Three Doors Down) and you have a serious trio of industry knowhow. Therefore, it would make perfect sense that they might turn their attention to live music. Hotel Carolina actually started out down at Isle of Palms in South Carolina and has been a steady songwriter draw for several years.
Now they are expanding the Hotel Carolina brand into the cradle of liberty with their first show at The Grape Room down in the Manayunk sector, and it’s gonna be a big one. Featuring a large array of touring artists, Hotel Carolina will play host to diverse Jersey regulars such as Cara Salamando and Dave Pittenger. Also scheduled to perform will be Nashville’s own Ingram Hill and John Waite sideman Shaun Hague. The festival is a two-night undertaking that features over 17 performers on two different stages located in The Grape Room space.
Tickets are $59.99―that includes admission to evening shows on Friday and Saturday, and participation in Saturday afternoon activities at the venue where attendees and artists hang out together and compete alongside each other for various prizes. Hotel Carolina is open to fans 21 years of age or older.
Also of importance, Geno’s Steaks are kicking in to sponsor the event. I do not know about you, but when it comes to those sandwiches, even this Jersey boy turns traitor when it comes to Gino’s. For more info on Hotel Carolina and Rock Ridge Music, head over to welcometothehotelcarolina.com.
