Say It Out Loud

Comments (0) By Doug Wallen Wednesday, May 26 2010

It feels like ages since we've heard from Holy Fuck. The instrumental Canadian quartet had a breakthrough second album in 2007's LP, only to spend the intervening years on tour. Now we have Latin, another curtly titled album of delirious jams awash in witchy drone, tremors of fuzz, and sirenlike synths. It's very much a continuation of the first two records, although the band's once-shuffling lineup is firm for the first time. The album's parameters likewise firmly established, the players are free to noodle and improvise within them: the bit of horn punctuating "Stay Lit," the live-instrument dance groove of "Pigs," the industrial undertones of "Grease Fire," and the hip-hop-ish samples amid the brief "SHT MTN." Lest you think it's all some cerebral workout, the songs aren't overlong and the melodies often ride high. In fact, Holy Fuck has landed songs on TV shows and commercials in the past; on Latin, the obvious choice for that kind of exposure is "Red Lights." It's incredibly bouncy in both bass and drums, although its thick thread of funk mutates to accommodate Krautrock and others. In fewer than four minutes, it's a tidy display of everything this band can do.