Review: Hollerado – Record in a Bag

Hollerado is one of those bands. The kind that you’re never really sure how to feel about—they’re good, but not special. Not quite guilty pleasure material, but their simple, familiar brand of no-frills indie rock leaves quite a bit to be desired. And that’s much of what the Ontario quartet’s debut full-length, Record in a Bag, is: the feeling that these boys could be doing so much more. Each track is undeniably fun, and principle songwriter Menno Versteeg has a knack for writing earworm hooks, catchy refrains, and even the occasional skybound chorus (see lead single “Juliette”). The songs are all high energy and easily digestible, but in the end, quite shallow. Lyrically, things get a little weak, with lines like “Fake drugs make you feel all right” not doing much to help propel the band past their cheery plainness. As far as songwriting is concerned, expect to hear a lot of the same verse-chorus-verse-chorus-breakdown performed on the standard arrangement of two guitars, a bass, and a drum kit. Hollerado does manage to throw one or two curve balls, including a slow-burning organ on “Got to Lose,” but this the exception to the rule and usually only is little more than novelty. It wouldn’t be fair to say that Record in a Bag is undercooked, because it’s not—even despite its completely ordinary nature, it still manages to be cohesive. Rather, Hollerado is underdeveloped as a band. Fun, approachable, but ultimately uninspired and teetering on the edge of forgettable. (Royal Mountain, www.royalmountainrecords.com) Kevan Hannah