It’s a straight drag waiting for a future that never arrives and Holiday Rain, Rock NYCs Mike Nessing Kid brother Chris Nessing’s band, have waited and waited and then took a hiatus. It infuriates me because I believe in my heart that talent will win out in the end and I am NOT saying this because Mike is my friend, if I didn’t love Holiday Rain I would simply not write about em, but Holiday Rain are a superb rock band. And they should be able to spend their life creating music for money but it can be so hard to break through the clutter.
This all comes about because after years of silence Holiday Rain have put four new songs on their myspace page, are in the process of releasing a new album and will be touring. And all four songs are amazing. And I want them to reach the millions of classic rock fans who would adore this band but how do they go about it?
What I’ve heard of their earlier work is borderline jam band -a sorta pyskick dancehall all whirl and thunder. These four songs are mid period Brit Invasion Pop songs with a dash of power pop thrown in for good measure but with an uncondional rock band countenance. “Sister Sunshine” sounds like an outtake from Ogden’s Nutgone Flake with a Yank rock singer on top. When was the last time somebody reminded you of psychedelic Small Faces? “Say Goodbye” with its move into falsetto falls into a 60s rock at the end of times. Oddly enough, Mike has been writing about Left Banke here, and the vocals though not the intrumental, remind me of them but really all those 1967 rock groups woulda given their drug supply to have written.a song as good as “Say Goodbye”.
Two things though, I wonder where the keyboards so central to their earlier work is and I wonder at the AMOUNT of restraint on show here: the band is completely in control and completely at service to the songs. Which deserve it. These are pop moves which (and I’ve said this in other posts) need a large audience to make them complete.
Four songs, four instant classics. Complete control.
Go on their Holiday Rain/Myspace and see for yourself. www.myspace.com/hrain