The Holy Mess

The Holy Mess: Cande Ru Las DegasCande Ru Las Degas (2012)
Red Scare

Reviewer Rating: 3

User Rating:

Contributed by: JeloneJelone
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on August 14th 2012This is it. Everything the Holy Mess have put out so far has built to this moment. All the shows and 7"s and here we finally are…the first Holy Mess full-length. Coming a year after their pretty dang awesome self-titled compilation, Cande Ru Las Degas (or "Lives of the Red Candle," or "Thing I Can't.

This is it. Everything the Holy Mess have put out so far has built to this moment. All the shows and 7"s and here we finally are…the first Holy Mess full-length. Coming a year after their pretty dang awesome self-titled compilation, Cande Ru Las Degas (or "Lives of the Red Candle," or "Thing I Can't Remember") nearly capitalizes on all that momentum. Nearly.

There's no way around it; the Holy Mess have slowed down a little bit here and in the process sacrificed what made them so fun in the first place: sloppy, rapid fire drunk-punk. Sometimes the trade works out, like on the throaty, grooving "Asleep in a Room Full of Dog Shit," but overall, the hooks showcased on The Holy Mess are missing. What's here is still very much in the same vein, but with a shifting focus on mood. Cande is a little heavier, a little darker, even a little country on "A Song For Tim Browne to Sing." It's good stuff, but there's going to be a little bit of fallout over this record.

That's not to say the album is necessarily brooding and mid tempo; it isn't. In fact, there are still plenty of barnburners, like "The Saddest Girl to Ever Hold a Martini" and "Cold Goodbyes," teased earlier this year on a preview digital EP. While the record toys with experimentation, there's still a whole lot of Midwest Org punk-indebted rocking going on.

Honestly, I get the same feeling listening to this that I did with On the Impossible Past by their neighbors the Menzingers: I like it. I don't love it. I feel like my opinion won't truly solidify until the next record comes out. Which is to say that Cande shows these hints of wanting to be something else. The Holy Mess could easily veer off into some sort of crust metal whatever project, or just turn into Lucero, and I wouldn't mind at all. These possibilities hammer home that even though I've been listening to the Holy Mess for a few years now, this is, ya know…their first record. There's still room for growth and what-not. Cande is a solid first full-length, and while it doesn't quite surpass the band's early material, it's still very much part of a beginning.

Login to rate this album

People who liked this also liked:

Please login or register to post comments.What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?

Share your opinion by posting comments on the stories that interest you
Rate music and bands and help shape the weekly top ten
Let Punknews.org use your ratings to help you find bands and albums you might like
Customize features on the site to get the news the way you want.

Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

DesertBurst92 (September 6, 2012)

the song Within the Range of a Raven is a great song. But I think it carries the whole record.

10-4Eleanor (August 16, 2012)

Song 5 hella sounds like Elway. Poser shit.

Scruffy (August 16, 2012)

I think this is the best thing they've ever done. My opinion is honestly directly at odds with the reviewers. I feel like their older, faster stuff is a little generic and weak, and this album is catchier and more interesting than I expected, for sure. I don't want to sound like a fanboy, because, honestly, I was never a fan before. I also disagree with the commenter below: Between this and the new Sidekicks album, Red Scare is having a great year.

telegraphrocks (August 15, 2012)

Agreed that they do sound a bit like Elway at times, but it ain't too bad.

(Insert comment about "On The Impossible Past" here)

Thumbs (August 15, 2012)

The "Atlas Sound" is really becoming overdone. I wish this was recorded in a shittier studio.
Too much of this sounds like Elway. At times, I actually thought they had the same singer.

However, "Hospitals" and "Weren't No Fun" are badass songs. The rest isn't "bad", but there's dozens of other bands that wrote those songs a lot better.

levidolphin (August 15, 2012)

A Song for Tim Browne to Sing and Within the Range of a Raven are my favorites!
I skip the first song
Pretty good album!
gonna have to give it some time before i up the score

levidolphin (August 15, 2012)

A Song for Tim Browne to Sing and Within the Range of a Raven are my favorites!
I skip the first song
Pretty good album!
gonna have to give it some time before i up the score

greg0rb (August 15, 2012)

@zrhorner: can we please go ONE FUCKING WEEK without having to clarify to some schmuck that this site is VOLUNTEER-RUN?! Holy hell, learn something about where you're posting before you go on some rant. And yes, Joe's opinion IS more important and valid than yours. Cuz yours is apparently quite uninformed, while Joe's here is based on research and years of listening to this band.

Also, fuck off.

killtaker (August 15, 2012)

Very good album. Not sure I understand all the discussion of OTIP. I have no issues with the tempo of the songs...in fact slowing down some songs might make them more memorable.

Thumbs (August 14, 2012)

"I think folks that review records should get a real job"
How about smelly dudes that just ride in vans and "rock out" get real jobs?
Fucking idiot.

zrhorner (August 14, 2012)

It's a pretty fair review. Obviously just one person's opinion, and why this one person's opinion is deemed more credible than others is beyond me. But a fair review. I think folks that review records should get a real job. Your opinion is not your job. Your opinion and your feeling that it is above others and necessary for the global stage as the supreme authority of tastes is rather narcissistic and speaks to your level of self-awareness and consciousness. You also may have gotten lucky and landed a job regurgitating your well thought out opinions. I would suggest an understanding of all art as a piece of work stemming from a motivation and a thought. That is it. Judgement as to whether something is good or bad is fairly archaic and outdated; individually to yourself it is ok, I suppose...., but portrayed to the masses as authority is a fucking joke. I suppose this post is just my opinion. I also love The Holy Mess. Suck it.

Thumbs (August 14, 2012)

"whats echos problem, he seems like a real miserable hipster that cant find acceptance over at pitchfork.............................."
You pretty much hit the nail on the head there. But, hipsters will be hipsters. Whatcha gonna do?

As for the album... not good. It's a pretty bad year for Red Scare.

irish_punk_is_gimmickry (August 14, 2012)

whats echos problem, he seems like a real miserable hipster that cant find acceptance over at pitchfork..............................

Apeman_on_the_moon (August 14, 2012)

If I want "rapid fire drunk-punk", I'll listen to Campaign, thank you very much.

baseball (August 14, 2012)

I like this album a lot. I don't know if it's the best thing they've ever put out but I like it just as much.

NeverBeAMachine (August 14, 2012)

I agree with this review. This is definitely far slower than Dismount (my personal favorite release by THM). There's an obvious trend in punk rock nowadays towards that indie/punk sound. It's not usually my style, but I really dig this record (actually far more than OTIP, which I barely listen to).

inagreendase (August 14, 2012)

Expecting you to get shit for the score, but it's right on.

OtIP smokes this, though.

mclz (August 14, 2012)

"except for the opening track this record is awesome"

Toby, I hope you use that when you are writing up bios and sending out press releases.

EchosMyron (August 14, 2012)

A Red Scare release got less than a 7? THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!!!!!!!!!!!

jacknife737 (August 14, 2012)

This is absolutely the right direction for the band; great results.

Though, i don't get the comparison to On the Impossible Past - that album is by far my album of the year too.

austinatx (August 14, 2012)

Good analogy with On the Impossible Past. I enjoy it, but I thought it would be a record that I blacked out and broke shit to with my friends for the rest of the summer. Little too mid tempo for that, although not all the slower songs come up short. My real beef is that there are only 10 songs, and it's not on vinyl.

canaandrumzz (August 14, 2012)

Count me among those who appreciate the mid-tempo stuff a lot on the album, I also really identify with A Song for Tim Browne to Sing.

MDJoyce (August 14, 2012)

On the Impossible Past is holding strong as the album of the year for me. I don't get all the comparisons to it. That said, this album seems to be worth more than a 3 to me. I'm not sure how much more. Maybe a 3.5, but in my mind this is an album anyone into TLA needs to listen to. I was a bit confused as to what the reviewer meant by "title track," since as far as I can see there isn't one. The highlights of the album for me were "Within the Range of a Raven" and "The Saddest Girl..." This album is frontloaded, the first half rips. I'm jealous and impressed how many badass punk bands PA keeps churning out. I've got my eye out for these guys, Captain, We're Sinking, and Luther.

sacrificialpizza (August 14, 2012)

Kinda disagree with this. This record is pretty awesome. Been listening to it about non stop recently

MN_DrNick (August 14, 2012)

What slymer below me said.

slymer (August 14, 2012)

Man, I kinda disagree with this review. This is the best shit they've ever put out! Really good

Thrusters (August 14, 2012)

it's funny, 'cause I get the same feeling from this record that I get from On the Impossible Past: I love the shit out of this record and think it's among the best album released yet this year.