News / / 11.09.13

HOLOGRAMS

FOREVER (Captured Tracks)

11/20

Last year Swedish upstarts Holograms released a highly assured record, soaked in teenage sweat, attitude and unlikely hooks. It made 99% of more established musicians look like a bunch of fassies. There was a sense of excitement surrounding the youngsters as they hit the road and made anyone who got in their way very aware of their presence with rabid live sets and a relentlessly disdainful attitude. A little over a year later and the release of second record Forever sees the band staying unremarkably, disappointingly still. There are a few great noises, like the scratching, twangy guitar of Blaze on The Hillside, but nothing comes within a mile of being as fulfilling or instantly moving as the likes of ABC City from their debut. If Holograms had made the same record twice we’d at least have been happy to hear new songs, but the sad truth is it sounds like they’ve tried to make the same record twice and failed. Perhaps they just needed more time, possibly they were exhausted and a little overwhelmed. Either way, it’s early days for the boys, far too early to write them off, and far be it from us to accuse Holograms of being little more than a balloon that’s burst before its time. But we can’t help feeling that, for what might yet be a very special band, Forever falls short of the mark.

 

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Words: Billy Black

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