Holler Wild Rose

Filter is proud to announce our Undiscovered Band of the Month for March: Holler, Wild Rose! Named after the song that best captured the collective vision of the band and has since become a staple feature in their live show - Holler, Wild Rose! has spent the last two years creating their debut album – Our Little Hymnal – a fusion of their wide range of influences from shoegaze to sixties, from R&B to Radiohead.

Instrumentation:
John Mosloskie - lead vocals, guitar, bass
Ryan Cheresnick - guitar
Scott Vangenderen – bass, guitar
Ryan Smyth – drums, percussion
Mike Ortega - keyboards and guitar
Lou D'Elia – guitar

Who are your main influences?
Because our influences are constantly changing with our circumstance and environment, maybe seminal or formative would be the best answer to give - U2, Roni Size, Stereolab, Sunny Day Real Estate, Earth Wind and Fire, Low, and MBV.

How did you meet?
John first met his sister Morgan when his parents returned home from the hospital with her. Ryan Smyth and John met in third grade and became the best of friends. John and Lou met at a punk show and played in a rock band during high school. Ryan Cheresnick and Scott met in high school and became partners in crime. Morgan and Mike lived in the same town, and she introduced Mike into John's consciousness. Ryan and Scott were introduced to John and Ryan in the spring of 2003 and immediately made sweet sweet magic in a band called aDive. Mike produced their first EP in the summer of '03 and decided to join the crazy train. Lou officially joined in August of '04 for the group's first performance of the song "Holler, Wild Rose!"

What is your biggest achievement?
Tangibly, it'd be the release of Our Little Hymnal. Writing, recording and producing a record was a dream ever since we picked up instruments. The intangible? We're going on five years this May, and we love and understand each other more fully, and we're more excited now to create and perform together then we were in our younger years.

Where did the band name originate?
Originally aDive, we wrote a song called "Holler, Wild Rose!" in summer '04. One particular night forced a lot of soul searching on the group, and we decided to change the band name and identify ourselves with the song we felt best described our outlook on joy and the future.

Who are your favorite bands?
Bands we're digging now would be Apes & Androids, Cornelius, Death Vessel, the Watson Twins, Deastro, the Avett Brothers, Bows, Vashti Bunyan, Atlas Sound, and Ben+Vesper.

Plans for next release?
We are currently demoing new material and hope for a winter '09 release.

http://blog.filter-mag.com/filter/2008/03/undiscovered-ba.html - FILTER Magazine

Holler, Wild Rose! must have been reading my mind when they sat down to record this particular album. Our Little Hymnal takes bits from almost too many of my favorites, tossing in elements of Sigur Ros, Jeff Buckley, Radiohead and The Verve. I know I know... it is almost a mind explosion worth of sources, but somehow this New Jersey band was able to harness those powers and channel them into a damn beautiful album.

The first track is also their band name, which I do find to be a little weird. Regardless, frontman John Mosloskie's vocals teeter on that brink of Buckley-esque madness that even Our's Jiimmy Gnecco at times has a difficult time achieving. That is no knock against Gnecco, who is one hell of a talented dude, but Mosloskie takes no apologies for going balls to the wall on this one. Washes of guitars pour down over the vocals, making for a near-Sigur Ros sonic storm of shoegaze glory. Okay Holler, Wild Rose!, you've officially given me chills down my spine, and this is only the first track.

For shoegaze fans, you'll immediately think of My Bloody Valentine within the first seconds of "Mary Lawn Hair." The looped, droning keys sound like they were taken from any number of songs from Loveless, particularly "To Here Knows When." This song is best listened to with the lights off and blinds closed, allowing your mind to drift away into the euphoric soundscape that is Holler, Wild Rose!

"Mercy Beat" is quite a bit more straightforward, falling much more into the realm of early Verve mixed with more of those Buckley meets Yorke vocals. They embrace the soft/loud formula of bands such as iLiKETRAiNS to near perfection throughout this one, and it is very, very nice.

A few of the longer tracks, such as "Sun Vines," feel a bit lost, but the gloom filled beauty of "Thief In Our Bed" gets Our Little Hymnal back on track. "Color That Sky" is another treat, taking their time over the span of eight minutes to add in bits of reverbed guitars and glistening guitars that help push Mosloskie's falsetto vocals into the stratosphere. This makes me want to throw on Sigur Ros' Takk album in the next few minutes.

Although Holler, Wild Rose! may lack a bit in originality, they pull from an interesting group of musical inspirations to make up for their lush sound. With the musical power held between front man Mosloskie, drummer Ryan Smith, guitarist Ryan Cheresnick, bassist Scott Vangenderen, multi-instrumentalist Mike Ortega and guitarist Lou D'Elia, I am quite curious to hear what else they have up their sleeves. Their shoegaze meets prog sound has mountains of potential, making them a band to definitely keep an eye on.

http://www.thetripwire.com/reviews/2007/8/30/our-little-hymnal - The Tripwire

Which brings us to the greatest surprise of the week. Out of the 23 bands
that I saw over the past week, New Jersey's Holler, Wild Rose!
were easily the most impressive. I love that feeling when you're
watching a band and suddenly you realize that you are actually in the
midst of greatness. That moment for me came when they performed Captive Train.

The harmonies were absolutely cherubic on that song, and the steady
build of those ringing guitars continued to climb to euphoric heights
before Jon Mosloskie's high pitched Buckley-inspired
throat tore a strip out of the atmosphere and made me completely forget
where I was. The reaction of those around me when the song was over
pretty much summed up the consensus that we weren't just watching an
amazing performance, but this was something downright legendary. Their
soaring melodies and epic falsetto's suck you in and hold you captive,
and a mere mortal is powerless against their ambient charms. Whew! OK,
I'll admit that overexpressive gushing does not a viable music critic
make, but dang it, I'm a fan too and it's a shame that there weren't
more people out to witness this show. Hopefully these Jersey boys will
be back again soon.

http://itsnotthebandihateitstheirfans.blogspot.com/2009/03/audio-blood-tea-party-featuring-serb.html - it's not the band i hate it's their fans (Toronto blog)

"I don't recommend doing anything else -- such as reading, writing or dusting -- when listening to Our Little Hymnal...with a voice somehwere between Jim James, Thom Yorke and Jeff Buckley, lead vocalist and multi-instrumentatlist John Mosloskie leads this exceptional band through dramatic, melodica twists and turns that will keep you staring -- yes, staring -- at the speaker to catch what will happen next. Imagine if Explosions In the Sky had a lead vocalist, and your getting close."

-- Performing Songwriter Magazine, Nov/Dec 2007 - Performing Songwriter Magazine, Nov/Dec 2007

Remember the first time you realized how beautiful life could be? Let me guess, you were listening to some gorgeous build-up with your headphones snugly placed, your hands scrunched up, your heart stopped beating, you might have cried. It's okay; don't be embarrassed. If you haven't experienced something like this then I suggest you try New Jersey's passionately aggressive Holler! Wild Rose. If you have enjoyed this momentous thrill, Our Little Hymnal is all that and more. Packed to the brim with juicy, yet hollow and fragile, indie rock build-ups, and overflowing with delicate Bowie-esque interpretations, Holler! Wild Rose blend together organic elements with their eyes closed, letting the sounds escape their modest bodies. Already possessing a strong following back home, it's only a matter of time before Canada latches onto these artful melodies and deep-cutting lyrics. The first track is a defining moment for the band's melodic outbursts, whereas "Mercy Beat" is low-key and reminiscent of Bruce Springsteen. Each track is perfected and comes with a purpose, ensuring Holler! Wild Rose are an act that won't be quieting down anytime soon.


Our Little Hymnal (Backlight)



http://www.exclaim.ca/musicreviews/generalreview.aspx?csid1=115&csid2=850&fid1=27614
- Exclaim! Magazine (Canada) By Sari Delmar

NPR.org, December 3, 2007 - Holler, Wild Rose! channel psychedelic energy into powerful, moving shoegaze rock. On their new CD Our Little Hymnal, the New Jersey-based group shows their amazing ability to transition smoothly from tranquil, murky moods to explosive moments of release.

The cohesive set of songs on Our Little Hymnal was formed gradually over a five-year period. The album opens strong with the song "Holler, Wild Rose!" It's an epic track that manages to soar by too quickly, even though it clocks in at seven minutes. The song inspired the group to change their band name from their original title, "aDive." Drummer Ryan Smyth says, "I think it represents us perfectly, and that is the reason we adorn its name."

On the track "Sun Vines", the band's enormous sound surrounds John Mosloskie's sweet, reverb-laden vocals. "Captive Train" features some cleverly disjointed drum beats that come together for a steady, rolling groove. Aptly titled after the biblical term used for a pause in verse, "First Selah", "Second Selah", and "Third Selah" serve as short ambient intermissions.

- NPR's Second Stage

It was roughly two months ago when I first discovered the soaring sounds of (KCRW-approved) Holler Wild Rose. After falling in love with their debut LP, Our Little Hymnal, instantaneously, I was beyond eager see if the band's passionate/potent tunes would translate well in a live setting. While probably better suited at Mercury Lounge, HWR overwhelmingly impressed me with their brief-yet-strapping set last night at Brooklyn's Luna Lounge. Following the adage of 'less talk, more rock', Holler Wild Rose stormed through about half of Hymnal with zeal, precision and arrant finesse. With countless young acts heavily influenced by early '90s shoegaze, it's inspiring to hear a band that can meticulously highlight the genre's brightest moments all the while adding a layer of richness that is entirely their own into the grand melting pot. Read NPR's radiant feature on the Jersey-based band here. Enjoy a duo of photographs from the gig below.

http://musicslut.blogspot.com/2008/01/holler-wild-rose-luna-lounge.html - MusicSlut

The album opens with one simple word....

'Holler!'

What follows is a bone crunching cacophony of noise. Guitars that sound like whole orchestra's, drums that punch you in the stomach before lifting you back to your feet. This band is a unit, a whole sound, not just the sum of its parts. To pick out any particular sound is a difficult procedure, the instruments are melded together, as if held by an invisible force. And this is all in the first minute of 'Our Little Hymnal', an album of intense highs and beautiful lows, uproarious noise and somber laments. Opener 'Holler, Wild Rose!' is a microcosm of the whole album, a massive cacophony followed by periods of calm. 'Marylawn Hair' is Jeff Buckley's 'Last Goodbye' covered by Loveless period My Bloody Valentine, guitars made to sound like violins and crashing drums hitting the vocal melody like waves caressing the shore. 'Mercy Beat' is a different animal entirely, a bluesy hymnal underpinned by rolling drums and vintage guitars. The quieter moments are beautiful, the range of vocalist John Mosloskie coming to the fore, the melodies permeating even the thickest skin. 'Captive Train' is much the same story, twisted blues with a heady, highly emotional feel.

There are heavy hearts on this record, but not from the usual, and ultimately casual, pain of minor heartbreak or everyday troubles, it's something altogether BIGGER. It's almost a national pain, a shared malaise that trickles through the music inspired by generations of other American musicians. From the communal pain relief of Gospel, to the disenfranchised anger of the Blues right up to the personal inner torment of Buckley and Cobain, music from the US has a shared heartache. Having said all this, don't make me paint this record as a morbid exercise in grief, it takes this feeling and magnifies it until it becomes uplifting, a celebration if you will. As the album rolls on, you get the feeling every note played counts and every word uttered means everything. The epic length of 'Poor In Spirit' should indicate some filler but the song's length only intensifies the tension and irregular structure, giving the song room to breath outside the limitations of the three minute pop song. There's room for experimentation, expression and ultimately beauty.

'Sun Vines' is what Cold War Kids would sound like if they had listened to more shoegaze records and less Robert Johnson. 'Thief In Our Bed' takes the tempo down with ghostly aplomb, creating in my mind a cinematic story of closeness breading contempt, lovers slowly torn apart by themselves and their own flaws. There's something unsettling yet comforting about the choral vocal, an otherworldly almost inhuman voice that glides effortlessly over the tumbling drums. Closer 'Promise Braid' is simply breathtaking, a mix of dub bass and delicate vocal fragments. The moments of near silence serving to highten the impact of the sustained notes that are seemingly eaked out of the band. It's a controlled end after a hectic start.

The sheer pomp and general epic size of this album could put the casual listener off, for those who like a touch of pomposity however it truly is a wonderful piece of work. 'Our Little Hymnal' takes a million different influences and condenses them into an hour long masterpiece, said influences only part of a tapestry not the whole story. If you love music with a touch of the epic this is the record for you. An album that is simple and elegant, yet powerful and primal at the same time.
- Drowned In Sound (UK)

New Jersey ambient indie-rock outfit Holler Wild, Rose are this week's CMJ Sonicbids Spotlight winners. The six, sometimes seven-piece recently released their debut album Our Little Hymnal (Backlight), and has received air play on more than 100 radio stations, including KCRW, BAGeL Radio, and WXPN. Check out the band as they rock out on October 17 at Club Midway for the Organic Entertainment showcase at this year's CMJ's Music Marathon.

http://prod1.cmj.com/articles/display_article.php?id=49547500

- Sonicbids