Holy HolyThere's an early Timothy Carroll sighting on Howler's dancefloor as Edward R gets the sold-out show off to a banging start. Ed brings catchy songs like Wolves And The Water, extended jams and big-drumming energy to the party. Carroll, wandering about in sage-like contemplation, appears to approve. Chatty Fractures (aka Mark Zito) takes every opportunity to talk up the headliners throughout his dreamy set. "I'm contractually obliged not to be better than Holy Holy," he says. "So far, so good." Still, Zito gives being great a decent shot, bringing a band with him to flesh out a bigger sound on tracks such as Cadence, Reactor and the gorgeous Twisted. It's swaying, lost in the moment-type music and it's perfectly good.
Here comes Holy Holy, ready to smash out a set's worth of divine indie-rock. The much-loved History kicks things off with lead guitarist Oscar Dawson deftly warming up his fingers on the familiar riff, while lead singer and guitarist Carroll gets that warm, rich voice belting out nicely. Drummer Ryan Strathie delivers a monster drum solo on If I Were You that sets the bar early for performance greatness. But perhaps it's watching the spectacle of Carroll and Dawson's rock-outs, performed facing each other while strumming guitars in glee, that offer the best highlights during Holy Holy's set. During both Sentimental And Monday and A Heroine, Dawson paces side-to-side, furiously picking, looking out from under a wall of curls, while Carroll faces him, beaming and egging him on with his own rhythmic strums. The gentle Wanderer offers Carroll the chance to belt out a bigger vocal, wailing "Daaaaaarling" toward the end like a man on his knees. A brand new track, which Carroll explains was written in a scungey rehearsal studio in London, is demoed live and it's a cracker. A fashionable '80s-style number all about heartbreakers, what's not to love? Heading back into familiar territory with Impossible Like You, punters scream on hearing Dawson strum out the opening riff. Next, a surprise cover of the Terminator 2: Judgment Day theme song casts a creepily familiar sense of doom.
Finally, Dawson slips on the slide and rolls up his sleeves for You Cannot Call For Love Like A Dog. He drops the pick about a minute into the insane solo, but quickly recovers, missing only a beat or two. Punters raise their hands in adoration. If ever there was a band hitting their stride, it's Holy Holy right now. Heavenly.
