J Holmes – Blood

J Holmes – Blood – EP Review

Ayyyy…it is always rad to check out what J has been up to!

“Ashes In The Rain” starts out this solo effort from J Holmes out strong.  Vibrant bass from Daniel Gardner goin’ on…steady & solid drums from Warren Van Wyk…excellent pairing of guitar talents in what J brings to the opening tune alongside Austin Heyman…everything we wanna hear is right where you’d expect to find it.  “Ashes In The Rain” has a very humble shimmer and shine to it…the kind of song that sounds like it’s continuously building towards a detonation of sorts, but wisely keeps the energy contained without taking things too far as it shifts from verse to chorus.  The real fireworks seem to come around the 3:45 mark…love the solo there, and I’m stoked on how J was able to ramp up the intensity even more, but make no mistake, this track is extremely well-crafted from start to finish and the structure it possesses is immensely satisfying for the nearly five-minutes of its total length.  It’s the longest track on the record, but every ticking second you’ll hear is used perfectly…”Ashes In The Rain” is a real case of seamlessness in sound.  From the way it seems to flow so effortlessly along as it glides from part to part, to the inherent fluidity it contains as it shifts gears between verse and chorus and everything in between – I feel like this is essentially a flawless track by every conceivable definition.  I love the degree of accessibility you’ll find here too…as in, it’s not just going to appeal to me personally, but likely to all of you as well.  That’s an aspect of J’s music that has certainly fluctuated throughout the years and different releases he’s put out there with different bands and whatnot, but you can hear the high degree of focus on “Ashes In The Rain.”  Dude’s incredibly focused on this opening track, and as a result, you can hear the professionalism and precision in the execution.  This is practically surgical y’all – “Ashes In The Rain” has J sounding like a man on a mission with something to prove, and he’s nailed it.

“Blood, Blood, Blood” seems to have drawn the long straw and has been chosen as the single/gateway into the Blood EP.  Ultimately, I think you can pretty much make a case of some sort for any of the three hitting that status, but this track and its tie-in to the title of the record seems like a pretty logical choice.  Heckin’ good tune as far as I’m concerned…honestly, I really like it.  It hits the space between what you hear in Alt-Country and something like you’d hear from a more classic direction, tracing back to the roots of Rock.  You know what I mean…it’s got a real vintage vibe in the overtones of its DNA, which actually reminds me a lot of what you’d find in Sail Cassady and/or many of the songs in Colin Craveiro’s other longstanding project of Man Made Lake to an extent.  That’s solid ground if you ask me…all fundamentals that trace back to great songwriting and a genuinely compelling voice carrying out the lead vocal duties, which is certainly the case when you’re talking about J Holmes.  A seasoned veteran of the scene that has spent time in The Ladderback before he became the frontman of FVRMN – a band I’ve raved about in several ways over the years – J’s got a natural persona that very much suits the whole Rock-with-a-twist type of genres that he chooses to play within.  He makes some interesting choices that’ll sometimes have me raising an eyebrow in curiosity, or even send me right into a panic attack like he does with what seemed like a way cliché bom-bom-bom guitar riff to start out “Blood, Blood, Blood,” but he’s also an extremely songwriter that is capable of coming up with some extraordinary gems too.  You’ll know what I’m talkin’ about when you push play on “Blood, Blood, Blood” – you might even run to your music player in fear for a second, slowing your voice down as you shout “nooooooooooooo” as you take a second to assume that one of your independent heroes is about to create a very generic & overdone Rock song – but I can vouch for J and assure you that he’ll pull this track in the right direction real quick.  He had me worried, I ain’t gonna lie to ya, but he rights the course instantly, even if he’s “been shipwrecked out in the sand for a while.”  All-in-all, over the course of this past week in listening to the Blood EP, I really felt like I came around to love “Blood, Blood, Blood” quickly & felt like this whole vibe was a tight fit for J’s style…it suits him…it’s snug.  Plus, I felt like the video created by Michael Williams to support the song was fantastic.  J actually seems quite comfortable and in his element with this particular track…it’ll get ya onboard with this solo EP.  I don’t know if I really feel like deep down it’s something that he couldn’t have done with his band in FVRMN, but I’ll be honest with ya and say that I’ll always take more music by Holmes if/when I can get it.  I’ve always been interested in whatever he comes up with next & I suspect I always will be.

With just the three songs, it is undoubtedly a short experience with J’s music this time around, but hey man, if that’s the only real complaint any of us come away with, then hell yeah, he’s done an excellent job all-around, right?  I stand by the fact that I’m not hearing a tremendous amount of difference in the material you’d find in his band FVRMN and what you hear on this solo EP…I feel like he’s under the impression that it’s a bit more different than it is from our side of the speakers, but with his voice and songwriting style being so distinct, it’s always going to be a lot tougher to create songs that are going to seem massively unique from project to project, record to record, or band to band.  This last cut has got a kind of TV On The Radio-esque vibe to the verses, which I love…and I feel like the way the chorus moves brings this track a lot closer to something you’d expect to find in J’s catalog.  “FU Pay Me” winds this EP down by expressing what I’m sure so many of the artists in the independent scene have felt a million times throughout the course of their careers.  Entertainers always seem to be the last to get paid, and sometimes you just wanna shout “FU Pay Me,” you know what I mean?  I think the vast majority of us creative-types can relate in some way, shape, or form…and if you’ve ever been stiffed in the past, you’ll be among the loudest shouting along with the chorus of this final track I’m sure.  This whole set of three cuts has proven to be completely reliable…there’s no dead space, it never leaves you wanting for more, and it continues to keep the entertainment surging along at all times.  You factor in the professionalism in how J approaches ALL of the music he makes, the gritty wildness of his natural persona and grounded seen-it-all wisdom of his vocals, the mixing/mastering from the legendary Brian Scheuble (Elton John, Tom Petty, Stevie Nicks & many more), and the altruistic intentions behind this EP with all of its profits going directly to the Tokyo Spring Homeless Patrol…I mean, c’mon y’all…great tunes, admirable purpose – there’s every reason to support something like the Blood EP.  J always has me at hello to begin with – all that other stuff is extra icing on the cake as far as I’m concerned.  I appreciate where he’s coming from though, and I love that he recognizes his platform can offer him the opportunity to make it about more than just the music…he’s got a true sense of community and knows how to empower the scene around him to look out for the greater good of us all.  So while he might be singing “FU Pay Me” at the very end of this EP, the dollars are really not what he’s all about at the end of the day – this dude is all about the art & he’s here for the pure love of the game, and it’s something that always shines through the music he makes.  The Blood EP is another solid effort from one of the scene’s most authentic artists.

Find out more about J Holmes from his official page at Bandcamp here:  https://jholmes.bandcamp.com

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