Thursday, October 30, 2008

the Legend of The Happy Hollows


The Happy Hollows is, put simply, transformative. That is, the young Los Angeles trio’s infectious and amorphous sound is one that immediately sticks upon first listen, evoking hints of bands that listeners remember not for the scene that launched them nor the trends of the era, but for the moment at which they first heard its music. Vocalist/guitarist Sarah Negahdari wields ominous riffs and finger-tapped arpeggios with skill reminiscent of Mary Timony of Helium while simultaneously singing and wailing like a hyper hybrid of Debbie Harry, Kim Deal and Karen O. Meanwhile, the agile rhythm section of Charles Mahoney (bass/vocals) and Chris Hernandez (drums) vault and lunge with precision.

The Happy Hollows’ raucous and irreverent noisy-pop sound is influenced by genres as disparate as 90’s college rock, Broadway show-tunes, garage punk, and 80’s pop. The band combines innovative song structures, surreal lyrics, and fiercely adept instrumentation to recreate reality into a jagged panorama of vibrant, kaleidoscopic collage.

Three years into its existence, The Happy Hollows have put forth Imaginary, an EP that is an amalgamation of contemporary alt-rock, distorted atonality, and exuberant yelp. Produced by David Newton (founding member of C-86 legends The Mighty Lemon Drops and producer of The Little Ones), Imaginary articulates the band’s inherent magic.

Download: Lieutenant
Download: Tambourine

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