“What they putting in them Fort Street bubblers?” asks Nick Lupi on Holiday's title track. Lupi is shouting out Fort Street High School, his alma mater, where he met fellow students and now One Day Crew members Kai and Raph from Jackie Onassis, as well as Solo and Adit from Horrorshow. He makes a good point, too. That close to all of the members of a (relatively) young, genre-forging clique could have emerged from the same school seems unlikely. It has certainly painted a target on Jackie Onassis' backs. They couldn't be another success story from the same place, could they?
The short answer is: yes. Holiday is a rare thing. For a debut release Kai and Raph's confidence is disarming. “They say these songs ain't the style no more/When these kids go wild, man, I ain't so sure,” spits Kai on Crystal Balling, a neat swipe at those who have suggested horns, catchy la-di-das and big choruses are the sounds of Australian rap music drifting into irrelevance. That this release closes with an Outro – these days almost an anachronism – is also worthy of note. It takes some chutzpah to think your free debut EP will hit so hard that those of us listening need an opportunity to debrief. Our hosts are right though. The digestif is as much a highlight as the entrees and mains.
Assured, crisp, fresh; Holiday is the best debut we've heard from a pair of young, male Sydneysiders since… well, since Spit Syndicate and then Horrorshow opened our eyes to the One Dayers in 2008. This is more of that Fort Street magic, it seems. Those school reunions must be pretty special.
