Holy Fuck may just have the single greatest band name in the world. Could it be camp, or is it deadly serious? Is it an exclamation of surprise, horror or joy? The answer, upon listening to their music is -- pretty much all of the above.
A “lo-fi improvisational electronica” band from Toronto and part of the Dependent Music label/collective, Holy Fuck use live instrumentation and a collection of unpredictably random non-instruments to produce ‘electronic’ music without the standard failsafe fallbacks of techno and electronica such as sequencing and the heavy use of lap-tops. What this means for the music contained on this EP is 6 tracks of krautrock-esque motorik rhythms, chugging guitar, warm synths and random squiggly 16-bit noises.
This approach is summed up perfectly on “The Pulse,” which comes on like the soundtrack to a secret bonus stage in an old school 2D Sega Megadrive (or Genesis, depending on which side of the pond you reside) side-scrolling shoot-em-up. The track thunders towards the encounter with the final boss with a determination borne from the propulsive drums and simple, pounding bass while synths and washes of guitar provide the melodic element, helping raise the heart rate and induce the old familiar palm-sweats. The other tracks tend to follow the same rough template, 16-bit console references included (I swear that I remember the intro to “Safari” from my misspent youth as a moustachioed and sexually-ambiguous plumber who jumped on the heads of waddling mushrooms), with the bass and drums providing an energetic, heads-down backbone for the rest of the band to weave interlocking two-finger techno melodies and synth sweeps around.
Despite this fairly formulaic approach, the band throw enough variation in to the mix to keep the listener interested; the upbeat “Lovely Allen,” a potential summer anthem for kids in the know, features guest strings from Final Fantasy’s Owen Pallett, while “Choppers” introduces a slightly slower, dub feel to the bands’ trademark rhythms, and closer “Frenchy’s” is a stomping blast of glammed-up instrumental dance-rock of the finest order.
Holy Fuck are ploughing an almost entirely unique furrow with their live instrumental ‘electronica’ and by placing the emphasis firmly on dancing, rather than flurries of noisy crescendos, as a means of catharsis, they’re helping to introduce new sounds to an increasingly stale and predictable instrumental scene. Also, they make me want to do the robot.
-Kris Ilic