Poppier than most of the Kiwi bands of the era (Straitjacket Fits, Verlaines, etc.), New Zealand's Holy Toledos are closer to the genial but deceptively complex music of Neil Finn's Crowded House. Unsurprisingly, Crowded House drummer Paul Hester produced about half of 1993's Blood (the bandmembers produced the other tracks by themselves), and the resemblance of some tracks (especially "Blood" itself) to Temple of Low Men-era Crowded House is inescapable. This is not a bad thing, however; not only was Crowded House a fine ...
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Poppier than most of the Kiwi bands of the era (Straitjacket Fits, Verlaines, etc.), New Zealand's Holy Toledos are closer to the genial but deceptively complex music of Neil Finn's Crowded House. Unsurprisingly, Crowded House drummer Paul Hester produced about half of 1993's Blood (the bandmembers produced the other tracks by themselves), and the resemblance of some tracks (especially "Blood" itself) to Temple of Low Men-era Crowded House is inescapable. This is not a bad thing, however; not only was Crowded House a fine band, but there's always room for smartly constructed guitar pop. Furthermore, the Holy Toledos bring enough of their own personality to keep Blood from sounding like the work of a cover band. The three-part harmonies of bassist Adam Gallagher, guitarist Brendan Gregg, and primary songwriter Michael Gregg are the Holy Toledos' most attractive feature, and these 12 largely acoustic (but neither folky nor country-tinged) songs wisely place the harmonies at the forefront. The album's one flaw is that a certain sameness to the arrangements makes the songs sound a little more alike than they really are. Hester's productions, especially the album highlights "Mistakes in Remembering" and "Too Much," suffer less from this minor problem. ~ Stewart Mason, Rovi
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