The Holloways are the latest snot-rockers to come out of Britain, following Arctic Monkeys, Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen and Art Brut. But their particular type of snot is the kind that runs down your nose after a good cry. They're essentially a fun, funny bad -- they almost sound like they're giggling their way through each bouncy, hopped-up pop tune -- but the lyrics are all laments. Laments for girls, mostly, but also for England, for society and for any sensitive soul living in this cruel, cruel world.
Longtime followers of British music may remember a band called The Housemartins, who back in the mid-1980s blended happy jangle-pop with self-pitying lyrics. And it was The Smiths, of course, who pioneered this simple but oh-so-powerful combination of happy/sad. At any rate, The Holloways are keeping up a fine old British tradition, and simultaneously riding a new wave.
The Holloways' U.S. debut, “So This is Great Britian?” is out Aug. 28 on TVT Records.
Click here for The Holloways at MySpace.