With 111 Songs, Manotick, ON quartet Hollerado have officially transcended Lil B's 101-song 05 Fuck Em mixtape territory and entered a new realm of iPod-capacity punishment.
Made up of custom tracks written for the first 111 fans to pre-order a special bundle for their record White Paint, it will come as no surprise that some bend the conventional definition of a song. "This is Something (Tristan)," for example, is a story about an afternoon spent in a kitchen, followed by 19 seconds of lo-fi screams and guitar fuzz, and "Celebrity Crush (Jackie Bucherly)" instructs the listener on the many ways to stalk a celebrity, set to a slow beat and bass line. From the concept to the execution, 111 Songs exemplifies Hollerado's tried and true combination of ludicrous, clever and charming better than any of their previous records. There's a good balance of silly material with more fleshed-out pieces. The half-German hip-hop track "German Bees (Pete Nema)" is surprisingly memorable and fresh (partly due to sounding nothing like typical Hollerado), "Firefly (Annie Murphy)" is easily one of the most radio-ready tracks, warranting the most repeat listens of any of the songs and "Now I Know (Ryan Crozier)" is a standout classic Hollerado track with tight vocal harmonies and infectious guitar.
Of course, regardless of its great moments, this album is over five hours long, so you probably won't be listening through the majority of 111 Songs very many times, unless you are one of the 111 fans represented with custom songs (or a hardcore fan regretting being the 112th person to click that particular pre-order bundle). However, the band have stated that some of the songs will be revisited when they record their next album, and a couple of tracks will be released on a seven-inch for Record Store Day, so for a casual listener, your time might be better spent with the RSD selection or a future record. Still: 111 Songs is impressive.
(Royal Mountain Records)Made up of custom tracks written for the first 111 fans to pre-order a special bundle for their record White Paint, it will come as no surprise that some bend the conventional definition of a song. "This is Something (Tristan)," for example, is a story about an afternoon spent in a kitchen, followed by 19 seconds of lo-fi screams and guitar fuzz, and "Celebrity Crush (Jackie Bucherly)" instructs the listener on the many ways to stalk a celebrity, set to a slow beat and bass line. From the concept to the execution, 111 Songs exemplifies Hollerado's tried and true combination of ludicrous, clever and charming better than any of their previous records. There's a good balance of silly material with more fleshed-out pieces. The half-German hip-hop track "German Bees (Pete Nema)" is surprisingly memorable and fresh (partly due to sounding nothing like typical Hollerado), "Firefly (Annie Murphy)" is easily one of the most radio-ready tracks, warranting the most repeat listens of any of the songs and "Now I Know (Ryan Crozier)" is a standout classic Hollerado track with tight vocal harmonies and infectious guitar.
Of course, regardless of its great moments, this album is over five hours long, so you probably won't be listening through the majority of 111 Songs very many times, unless you are one of the 111 fans represented with custom songs (or a hardcore fan regretting being the 112th person to click that particular pre-order bundle). However, the band have stated that some of the songs will be revisited when they record their next album, and a couple of tracks will be released on a seven-inch for Record Store Day, so for a casual listener, your time might be better spent with the RSD selection or a future record. Still: 111 Songs is impressive.