Michelle Dee has many reasons to be upbeat about Hull music…
With their brand of expansive, heart-stopping Alternative Indie, The Holy Orders have been blowing minds and fuses for quite a few years. As the 4 piece Hull band release their debut album, For The Ears of Dogs To Come, the devotees can finally take a piece of the band home with them.
With the album out now on Coal Shed Records, the band have captured something of the electrifying live show experience, that never fails to make an impact and subsequently gets mentioned in every write-up and interview.
Katy Noone BBC Introducing said, ‘…always performed with impeccable musicianship and incomparable style’
In recent years a number of Hull bands have been making the rest of the country sit up and listen, including the gate keepers at 6 Music. With the psychedelic sounds of Mammal Hum on Cerys’ show earlier in the year, cinematic shoegazers Oedipus the King played last month on Tom Robinson’s Mixtape, and on Saturday night, The Holy Orders live in session on Tom’s evening show. It was through Raw Talent, the BBC Introducing show’s recommendation, that The Holy Orders and the track Deviants came to Tom Robinson’s attention back in 2010. Since then the band’s progress has been followed with considerable interest leading up to the simultaneous session broadcast and album release July 13th 2013.
The sudden wave of local band success, hasn’t happened by chance. It’s the accumulation of hard work by bands and artists, venues and promoters: innovative thinkers, who feel that Hull is on the cusp of a cultural renaissance. All around the city there is renewed belief, that Hull has something of worth to offer the rest of the country.
With the band’s penchant for epic numbers, tracks like Breathe and Somewhere in this World, that sweep the unsuspecting off their feet, you might have forgiven The Holy Orders for doing an EP style album, 5 or six tracks at most… But no, with For The Ears of Dogs To Come, you get nine blisteringly good songs, that showcase the Holy Orders’ dynamic sound, lyrical intensity and raw power.
The album, actually recorded two years ago at Mountain Sound Studios in Hull, has been a long time in the making. Matt Edible (vocals/guitar) wanted the album to be the very best it could be, so a lot of thought and careful preparation has gone into it. And it shows.
The album itself looks great, with cover and inlay artwork by Snapper52 that is as engaging as it is unsettling. A nightmarish figure (most definitely male) noose around the neck hangs lifeless from a tree, the tree, gnarled and twisted, with curiosities and treasures secreted away, magpie-like, among the leaves and branches. Unfolding the inlay reveals the full discomfiting image and on the reverse, all the song lyrics, painstakingly copied out down to the last ‘la’. These are the extra touches and polish that The Holy Orders have become known for.
I recall an art noize show where the band supported Norwegian bass drone artist Elektro Diesel, the volume had been turned right up, creating a cavernous sound that shook the crowd in the renowned Adelphi Club to its core: and that was just the beginning.
That same evening, when the band took to the stage, the screaming guitars, thunderous drums and soaring vocals sounded immense; far more immense than usual. We looked at one another excitedly, grinning like children, as the sound continued relentlessly. Someone had kindly forgotten to switch the levels back: the songs exploded from the stage like never before.
The album launch of For the Ears of Dogs To Come takes place on Wednesday 17th July at the New Adelphi Club, and is available now through the Holy Orders Bandcamp page and at shows.
Free Download Single ‘Paper Scissors Stone‘ from Soundcloud.
The Holy Orders will be playing a number of festivals throughout the Summer including Truck Festival, Galtres and the Free Festival Humber Street Sesh.
The Holy Orders are:
Matt Edible – vocals, guitar
Dave Coates – bass
Christopher Marsay – guitar
James Cooper – drums, backing vocals