Holland's debut record, Photographs & Tidalwaves, almost defies categorization. It's not emo, it's not indie rock, it's not grunge-pop, it's not funk-metal-folk-aggro-core or any of the hastily-thrown-together appellations that appear and disappear with postal regularity. After a listen or two it dawns: Holland is just plain rock. Rock with a pop sheen and some syrupy-sweet hooks, sure, but rock nonetheless.
Professionalism and restraint ooze from the Aaron Sprinkle-produced album. The record is divided almost flawlessly into two sections. The first six songs set the rules, with pleasant pop/rock melodies, clean vocals, and hooky choruses. The latter, more interesting, six break the rules with great self-assurance.
Almost every song in the first half sounds alike. "Shine Like Stars" and "One Minute to Zero" stand out, but not by too much. Thankfully, the songs develop personality later in the disc. "The West Coast" and "Bring Back July" feature fist-in-the-air, crowd-pleasing choruses, while "Losing Jim" and "Photographs & Tidalwaves" are soft, lonely ballads. The album's hands-down best song, though, is the eight-minute ballad "Goodnight Texas," which features guest vocals from Dave Baysinger of Bleach and brings to mind Relocation-era Plankeye.
Geography is a major symbol on the lyrical side, with references to Tennessee, Texas, and Los Angeles sprinkled through the album. "The record is about change," the band offers, "and how we respond to growing up in this messed-up world." The closing title track is perhaps the most lyrically interesting, as "it's a metaphorical song about California falling into the ocean" that juxtaposes images of skylines, city streets, and rising waters with the parable of the man who built his house on sand.
Photographs & Tidalwaves is a tightly played album that only suffers from overly repetitious song structure, while featuring two gems in "Goodnight Texas" and the title cut.
3.5 tocks
Other coverage for this album
Decapolis April 2003Reviewed by Tyler Baber"The bottom line for us is that we don't want to be stereotyped and called one thing or another," these are the words of Josiah Holland, bassist of Tooth and Nail's Holland whose debut album is Photographs & Tidalwaves. You may have read those words and thought you heard them spoken by another musician or band. It seems while critics and fans throw around catchy and meaningless genre names, bands…The Phantom Tollbooth 2003Reviewed by Darryl A. ArmstrongTooth & Nail Records broke into the Christian music scene a decade ago with a bang. They brought bands like MxPx, Plankeye, Starflyer 59, Danielson, The OC Supertones and Project 86 to the forefront of the Christian music industry. Many of these bands were playing music that was fresh and new, music that wasn't being produced by any other mainstream Christian record label or even by many secular…Similar sounding releases
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