Album Reviews

Red Scare Industries is, along with No Idea, probably the coolest punk rock label of the past couple o' years. All PBR-swilling, bearded punks probably have more than four albums by the Chicago based label.

And with good cause. Because the label offers tons of quality releases. Masked Intruder, Teenage Bottlerocket, The Falcon, Sundowner, The Menzingers... Jeez, if that ain't an awesome roster, I don't know what is.

Anyway, The Holy Mess is on there as well. And with "Cande Ru Las Degas" they delivered an honest debut record for every beard-punk lover. Or Org Core lover. Or The Fest-punk, or whatever you call it.

Clever lyrics, raw vocals, minor chords, moody vibes, song titles like "The Saddest Girl To Ever Hold a Martini", singalong parts... You know the drill.

We've heard bands like these before. We heard the songs before. But The Holy Mess is still fairly raw around the edges, and that's what makes it cool. And despite it not being the best org punk record, it shows a lot of promise. And I'm pretty damn sure The Holy Mess is capable of taking that next step.