LISTEN: Hollow Everdaze – ‘It’s Growing’

When a band describes their sound as ‘neo psychedelia’, there’s usually a throwback haircut, rough cut out of a 60’s babe sitting in a liberal position on their record sleve and a polka dot shirt that you can smell from a mile away involved. Hollow Everdaze were probably everything I expected. And then some.

I’ve waited way too long to post this band on the blog. But procrastinating apparently pays off, because the band’s latest release says more about these guys than the other great tracks they’ve put out.The Melbourne four piece have been doing the live thing for a while, but have only given two singles a proper release ‘Selfish’ and ‘Handsome Sums’. These are both excellent tracks; ‘Selfish’ steers it’s way through moody blues and ‘Handsome Sums’ pilfers at what I’m guessing is an good appreciation for Alex Turner and Brit-rock’s best tunes to come down to.

Hollow Everdaze have just put out It’s Growing – a 16 track album featuring unreleased tracks from 2009 to 2012. Any guess at those babyfaced smirks would have that 2009 to 2012 probably spanned most of their adolesence. Whether these tracks are leftovers or a nostalgic memo to their earliest teen jams, it’s definitely should have been the one that soundtracked mine.

And that’s the best way I can describe this record. It’s not a youth highlights reel. It’s a blur of lights, awe, paranoia and void filling noise. Reminds me of lot of my adolescence actually. Didn’t smoke weed, didn’t wear a snap back or feel compelled to document #teenlyf in low saturation like any half-exciting band is preaching these days. In truth, I spent most of my time being bored, flirting with acne cream and staring at a wall.

There’s a restlessness that hangs over this album. It’s boredom and melancholy. Maybe a whole rehash of the archives if you like; in low-fi technicolour with Girls’ Christopher Owens sitting at the end of the rainbow, burning a huge cigarette hole right through the middle.

Tracks like ‘It’s Growing’ and ‘Buying Milk’ have that familiar starry-eyed psychedelia running right through, but the whole sentiment becomes blurred by the end. Every track on here contains bits of every song you’ve probably ever heard. Each track wanders around seperately without any real intention, but that’s the best thing about this.

There’s Bauhaus with a string section on ‘Seediest Bar’ and at a completely different angle, muted electronica on tracks like ‘Tapdance’ and ‘Forrest’. My favourite is probably ‘Stardusted Mess’ – a glorious waltz with spaced out vocals and falling confetti for piano lines.

The EP of unreleased material sounds more like Neutral Milk Hotel drinking liquid nitro, rather than the bluesy psychedelia on the tracks they’ve given a proper release. Whoever’s providing vocals for ‘Tightrope’ sounds really like Chris Owens. The melancholia’s still there, but it’s a little more poignant and less paranoid instead.

I often wonder what happens to all the good tunes that end up in the scrap heap. The other tracks the band have released properly are equally as excellent, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg really. This release might be hanging out in offcut purgatory, but it definitely deserves your attention.

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