Like any band I genuinely love, I always have high expectations when it comes to the release of new music. Since the 2013 release of the Devil Man EP, Blues Pills is a band that has been a huge part of my later years of life soundtrack. With each album, Blues Pills matured and grew with 2017’s Lady in Gold, where I consider the band to have reached the top of the mountain.
I was both excited and nervous to listen to Holy Moly. My expectations were high, and I even wondered if they were too high to be exceeded or even met. This is the first album to feature bassist Zach Anderson, who transferred from his position as bassist to guitarist as well as new bassist Kristoffer Schander. Former guitarist Dorien Sorriaux had such a distinct sound that I felt like was a huge part of the Blues Pills sound, so I was curious to hear what it would sound like with Anderson now on guitar.
The first song and lead single “Proud Woman” is an in your face rock n’ roll anthem standing tall in the name of women all over the world and their rights. In the time of the “me too” movement where we saw women standing up for themselves and each other in the face of sexism, vocalist Elin Larsson delivers her message with a sense of anger and frustration pushing her voice to the brink. I felt like the music lacked in the guitar department, but maybe that was intentional to showcase Larsson’s vocals.
“California” is hands down Holy Moly‘s shining moment. Sounding like an excellent mix of classic Muscle Shoals blues and gritty soul ala Graveyard, “California” really hit where it counts. It is such an awesomely written song, but once again, I have a hard time connecting with the guitar performance on this album.
It’s amazing how much can change in a band’s sound by just swapping out guitarists. I don’t think Anderson is as dynamic a player as Sorriaux. I am in no way saying that Anderson is a bad guitar player. He’s quite a good player, but I feel like the music lost something in this change. The other ironic thing is that Anderson’s replacement on bass is missing that in your face, behind the beat/in the pocket attitude. The bass seems to plod through song after song with no real character.
Change is a hard thing for me. Whenever there is a change within a favorite band of mine, I find myself listening a lot more critically. The songwriting on Holy Moly! with a couple of exceptions felt weak and kind of flat for me. The songs aren’t horrible but they’re just not nearly as good as their past material. That being said, my biggest issue with Holy Moly is that I feel that it lacks in the guitar delivery department.
With Holy Moly, I wanted more punch, more oomph, and more attitude from both the bass and the guitar. Musically Holy Moly feels pretty safe while lyrically and vocally this is their strongest stuff to date. The planets just didn’t line up to make the sonically great and complete performance of their previous albums.
Almost all of my favorite bands have put out albums that weren’t knocked clearly out of the park. Captain Beyond had a miss with Dawn Explosion, Iron Maiden lost me with Dance of Death, and Kadavar fell a bit flat with Berlin. This doesn’t mean that it makes me any less of a fan. When I am this critical of a band, it shows how much I love a band and the expectations I set for them.
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