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Waxed - Record Review from Issue #59 Sept-Oct 2005

Holopaw

Quit + / Or Fight (Sub Pop)

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The men of Holopaw sound like sonic emissaries from a strange and foreign land. That, of course, is exactly what the Gainesville natives are; America doesn’t get much weirder than Florida. On Quit +/Or Fight, however, Holopaw comes across like a European import, its pastoral folk rooted in the same section of the record store as Scot-land’s Belle & Sebastian. The band’s sophomore outing takes a while to reveal its charms, but once you’ve gotten used to singer John Orth’s disarmingly fragile voice, Quit +/Or Fight has its rewarding moments: the Crazy Horse guitar flares in “3-Shy-Cubs”, the desert-sunset pedal steel in “Holiday”, the orange-shag organ in “Little Shaver”. Lyrically, Orth creates worlds where forest clearings are alive with “without-a-peep warblers” and “little spruce-tip nibblers.” Too cute? Check out “Velveteen (All Is Bright)”, where Holopaw drowns Santa and then drags the lake with peppermint hooks. Like Quit +/or Fight, it’s strange, but somehow lovely.

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Originally Featured in Issue #59 Sept-Oct 2005

Cover of Issue #59 Sept-Oct 2005

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