At first glance of the album's cover, you might assume you're in store for a weird punk rocking thing with a hint of some Animal Collective or bland indie-pop junk. That assumption is what lead me to ignore this album for a few years until a friend sat me down and informed me otherwise, saying something like, "Seriously dude, it's good and not as bad as it looks." Fortunately for our continued friendship, this friend was right.
The only real fault with the album is the lack of unification, which is because it was recorded over a serious of events, both live and in-studio. Otherwise it's a solid and cohesive album and brings to mind the likes of early Kraftwerk (the live band stuff) and electro-prog acts like This Heat and Bruce Haack.
Don't let the experimental draw you away though -- this isn't a test of noise or wits, it's fairly straight-forward in its conception when it boils down to it. One might be inclined to call it noise on first listen, maybe even liken it to something like Gang Gang Dance, but there is an uncanny playfulness about it, as well as a straight forward, head bobbing disco-beat mood that keeps it from ever seeming too out there.
Even still, you're not getting the full picture of Holy Fuck until you listen to the album. One track will bring to mind the analog-tape play of a MIT experiment, while the next will sound like a lovingly well-conceived Tristeza song. It's this strange yin and yang that makes LP interesting though, it doesn't settle down into one format. While it remains non-cohesive and a bit sporadic, it also keeps the ear in tune to the changes. It's a weird thing, then its not, but it's always spot on.
Maybe this playfulness is where the stupid name came from, or maybe they just didn't have any better ideas. Either way, it's a little upsetting how much a poorly chosen band name can influence the first notion of a band. It's a classic case of the stupid old saying, "don't judge a book by its cover," and it's too bad I did when I first saw this, because I'm in love now.
