Holmes – Self-Titled (Music Review)
By Andrew Gable • Sep 28th, 2009 • Category: Categories, Indie Rock, ReviewsHolmes
Self-Titled
Groove Gravy
Rating: 2 out of 5
Roy Shakked, aka Holmes, has many releases, in varied forms and under a number of names. His music has been featured on major television shows and a Nissan commercial. With the popularity of this genre of music, and the exposure he has received from Sex and The City, The O.C., CSI Miami, etc., I would be floored if he doesn’t become enormously popular on pop radio and on music television channels.
According to Holmes’ bio (http://www.sweetholmes.com/bio.html), he has, since a young age, been “hooked on the likes of The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Prince, ELO, Queen, The Neville Brothers, Harry Nielsen and other soul, pop and rock stalwarts – an addiction he’s fighting to this day.” That couldn’t possibly be more accurate as a list of influences on this album. I would toss in a bit of Supertramp on a few tracks. On nine of the 11 tracks, the Beatles influence (from Sgt. Peppers and Abbey Road) is as obvious as the spin on Fox News.
Most of the tracks have a similar sound, and are hard to distinguish at times. I did like two of the tracks, “Go Computer” and “Not With You,” though these two seem out of place with the rest of the album. “Go Computer,” borrowing the bounce from The Knack’s “My Sharona” is a cute song about a slow computer, and “Not With You” is a nice change on the outlook of relationship songs. He later covers “Let’s Dance” from David Bowie and turns it into a slow five-minute dirge.
On one hand, his music seems about 30 years too late, as the sound of the album is filled with a lot of feel-good tunes that are catchy and use a number of unconventional (in today’s typical arrangements) instruments, such as horns, whistling, and organs. Vocally Holmes reminds me a lot of John Sampson from the Weakerthans on a number of tracks. There is an unmistakable bounce in most all of his songs, but his attempt at a true soul sound falls a bit short.
On the other hand, he borrows enough from the Beatles, et al., to make the songs upbeat enough to make them great for today’s scaled-down pop music. Holmes seems like he would be a fantastic choice to open for Jason Mraz, Jack Johnson, Dave Matthews, or even any number of mellow classic rock artists.
Talented in what he does, this genre just doesn’t do it for me.
Links:
Holmes Official Site: http://www.sweetholmes.com/
Holmes on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/imholmes
Groove Gravy Records: http://www.groovegravy.com/
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Andrew Gable is a 30-something journalism student in Cincinnati, Ohio. He has played in a few local bands and is an avid collector of music. Outside of sharing his opinion with many people who don’t ask for it, he can be found drawing, skateboarding, and drinking copious amounts of coffee at local coffee establishments.
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