Holding Sand are a French band who might have named themselves after a Rival Schools song, but their sound is more of a metallic rock one with marginal hardcore/post-hardcore influence, and as a result it comes off more as a watered-down mish-mash between bands like Blindside and Finch.

For starters, the screamed verses and "dark," melodic choruses of opener "The Future Belongs to Heartless Whores" (a title my Freudian mind initially typed out as "Heartless Wonders") feel a little forced, and something about the hook feels muffled or snuffed. The rumble of guitars in the title track feel a little lazy, while the wavery vocals make it sound like one of those throwaway, mid-2000s post-Glassjaw bands. The somewhat balladic turn of "Black Is the New Black" is essentially their "What It Is to Burn", and it would feel a little more passionate if the emotional hook wasn't literally a screamed "black, / black is the new black!" Seriously, huh? "What Eyes Betray" has some more boring radio screamo riffs, and closer "Shooting Stars" feels as clichéd as the title would lead one to believe.

On Sleepless Nights definitely feels like an EP that's "going for it" (three music videos?), and while that's not necessarily an automatic detriment, this is overall an iffy imitation of a dated sound.

STREAM
The Future Belongs to Heartless Whores
On Sleepless Nights
Black Is the New Black

VIDEOS
The Future Belongs to Heartless Whores
On Sleepless Nights
Black Is the New Black