HOLLY MAY

Oh boy, this release has all the dangerous traps for a male reviewer, who wants to avoid all the prejudices of paternalism, machism and or plain typical maleness. Whatever I am going to say about Holly May, it might sound offensive to sensitive readers, even though made in the best goodwill and fandom of the band. See, if I state, that I am a fan of the band Holly May, someone might accost me of typical male behaviour in putting more importance on the female band members than on the music. That can be called sexism, you know. If I mention the fascinating and wonderful beauty of the fragility and sense of insecurity of their songs, I might be accused of patronizing a band just because they are female and young. And that is a bad thing, of course. I mean, some reviewers have been accused of sexism for using the word “female-fronted” in record-reviews, because female or not should not be of any importance. (True, but since it makes an aesthetic difference I think it should be mentioned.) Well, I guess I have your attention now, so I’ll get myself even deeper into your despise.

The easy way out, would be to use a female reviewer (with the evil alternative of imposing a female personae and writing the damn thing myself under disguise), because female reviewers are obviously allowed to say things like “Holly May are a girl-women-band, and they are good because they are a girl-women-band” as the women on radio did the other day. If I said that, you would either accuse of me of indirect sexism, cynicism or outright lying. I would never say that, because I think the argument is completely besides the point, if not plain stupid, but on the other hand, they won’t let me talk on the radio anyway, because I finished school and have a proper job. By the way, the same radio-speaker had the guts to say that the band only came together on short notice, completely ignoring the fact that parts of them had already played together years ago in another band called Whymandrakes, who also released a single on Trost-records. See, facts aren’t as important as female solidarity.

Boys are the record-collector-scum in the scene. Male music-fans have been accused of pushing out the girls / women with the posture of superior knowledge in all matters musical. But that is a curse also. See, this record was recorded in Umea, Sweden and whereas the female colleague of the radio-station doesn’t have to know more than that Umea “was or is some kind of hardcore-centre”, I will have to research the whole facts about the town, about Motorpsycho and the scene to get up to what is expected of me. To get on a par with my male collegues. Maybe I’ll get away with mentioning that DS13 have a song called “Umea Hardcore” on their new album. Maybe.

Yes, that remark about facts and female solidarity will get me into hell for sure. These are the dangers and traps a male reviewer of this band will have to avoid. Not reviewing the CD is completely out of the question, because – female or not – it features five beautiful, wonderful songs that make a lot of promises for the future. Multi-harmonious song-lines are woven into each other with a impeccable care for minute details and fragile construction. It is like a frail sculpture made of tiny pieces of glass-tears. You are afraid to touch them, for fear of destroying the whole thing. Accordingly the songs are slower and more melancholic with one exception.

It is a beautiful record. Maybe I shouldn’t have said more than that. But then again, maybe someone would accuse me of not giving a great record the attention it deserves. And if I closed with the remark, that this record fits perfectly to the melancholy of the cold and dark fall-afternoons ahead of us, which it does, then I might be accused of using a label just once too often. For Holly May I’d calculate the risk and do it anytime, though.