ALBUM REVIEW: HOLLER - Next In Line - Scarlett Records
This is the second time I'm writing this review. The first one was a very long trip to the realization that even though I really like this album I have this little quibble that Terence Holler's vocals don't quite match the music. Kind of like a poster where cyan got printed half a millimeter off register. It's still enjoyable as hell, but there's just ~something~.
That said, let's get to the goodness Holler delivers with Next In Line (Scarlett Records). The single best feature for me is how much karaoke bait is in here. From "A Miracle" on, I wanna sing along with everything.
Sounding somewhere between Survivor, Journey, Def Leppard, and Boston, Holler brings eighties synth-rock to a new decade.
"Stormy"'s lyrics trend a bit complex, but "Chandelier" will lead to some questionable choices with "One Two Three Drink" repeated at least 6 times in rapid-shot-challenge-succession and "I wanna swing from a chandelier" daring frat bros to do some truly stupid stuff. The song ends very abruptly. Every time I think it cut off for a phone call.
"The Ocean," a slower-paced power ballad comparing a loved one to the ocean follows the rambling enjoyable "Don't Fool Me" (try not to look too hard at the lyrics). Great poetry this ain't, as "24Seven" and others demonstrate. It is great top-down scream-along tunage for all the genre-standard love song lyrics.
Denis Chimenti and Luca Fuligni's guitars do a spectacular job keeping this firmly rooted in hard rock territory. "Crystal Eyes" kicks up the pace with a riff that elevates the heart rate as Holler has "got to get away from your Crystal Eyes." Based on the pace, that's a pell mell all-out sprint.
As I wind up this second stab I finally figured out my disconnect. Holler's voice has a rasp, and this Yacht Rock tour de force calls for a smoother delivery. Probably a bit of distortion on the bass or guitar could have solved it.
I don't know. What I do know is Holler provides us with almost and hour of pure fun that probably kills live.
Holler don't break new ground, they're not trying to. They deliver music that surpasses anything Top 40 has spewed at us in thirty years and would fit anywhere on the radio dial from Classic Rock to the Soft Rock station in your office cube farm, to New Rock, and any place else you'll find Yes, Asia, Kansas, and all those other forty-plus-year old acts with the glossy-looking logos.
Y'know what? Don't pay attention to my personal quibbles. Get Next In Line and check it out for yourself. You won't have any complaints (your job is not critic; mine is.)
Stream/Buy the album here: https://scarletrecords.bandcamp.com/album/next-in-line
9 / 10
LARRY ROGERS
Larry Rogers, Ghost Cult Magazine, Holler, Scarlett Records, Terence Holler, Denis Chimenti, Luca Fuligni, Yes, Asia, Kansas, Survivor, Journey, Def Leppard, Classic Rock, Yacht Rock, Yugoboy Productions, Yugoboy's Stereo
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