The Hollyfelds

For an album that sounds endearing from the start, the songs here are steeped in feisty dissatisfaction and heartache. Without harking back to a specific era of country music — a very welcome break from the current era, which tends to draw too much on the past — the Hollyfelds...

By Tom Murphy

November 15, 2012

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For an album that sounds endearing from the start, the songs here are steeped in feisty dissatisfaction and heartache. Without harking back to a specific era of country music — a very welcome break from the current era, which tends to draw too much on the past — the Hollyfelds have written a collection of superb songs. Instead of focusing on some idea of what they're supposed to sound like, the band was clearly aiming to craft songs that appeal to more than country purists. Eryn Hoerig and Kate Grigsby Mender bolster each other perfectly, particularly on tunes like "32nd Street," where their voices complement each other on alternating notes rather than merely harmonizing, as they do masterfully everywhere else.

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Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

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