Formats
PRIM02 - LP
857176003812
Details
With a revolving door of collaborators that include Ariel Pink, Girls’ Christopher Owens and John Maus, Matt Fishbeck’s Holy Shit is ground zero for the West Coast’s lauded pop idiosyncrasies in recent years. The Harvard graduate and devout gondolier emerged as Holy Shit in 2006 with Stranded at Two Harbors, a collaboration with Ariel Pink that foreshadowed the latter’s work in Haunted Graffiti, and garnered a fervent cult following for Fishbeck’s singular approach to labyrinthine home production and chilling melodies. Later EPs appeared on imprints like Fat Possum, and recent years have found Holy Shit touring with Beach House. Fishbeck’s artistic character is further revealed by unusual projects: he contributed to a book on the venerable 1980s English pop group Felt and last year brandished a cover of “Woke Up Sticky,” a solo single from The Only Ones’ Peter Perrett, at an exhibition opening of visual artist Ryan McGinley in San Francisco. A latticework of understated percussion and tape hiss throughout, Stranded at Two Harbors on the front-end veers from the bristling new wave intensity of “Tokyo Gamblers” to the poignant psychedelic pop of “My Whole Life Story.” On the flip, Fishbeck’s pop adaptation runs wild. The damaged and buoyant thrill of “I Don’t Need Enemies” even puns on the English music weeklies, with an Anglo-inflected final line, “... or Melody Maker for that matter!” Production and surface aesthetic traits aside, “The Castle” illuminates Fishbeck’s principle assets: evocative imagery set to deeply penetrating melodies with that perfect guitar lead to match.
Tracks
1. Maus Is Missing
2. Written All Over Your Face
3. Tokyo Gamblers
4. Hot on Your Trail
5. My Whole Life Story
6. New Colors
7. Stranded
8. The Notice
9. I Don?t Need Enemies
10. The Castle
11. Let?s Get Straight
12. When You Came Around to Me