3 Feet High & Rising: New York Indie Rock/Neo-Soul Quartet Holy Ride Share "Pictures" from Debut Party Tricks EP (The Witzard Premiere)

Holy Ride are a New York-based Indie Rock/Neo-Soul quartet, who formed while attending Columbia University in 2016. Consisting of vocalist/keyboard player Julian Ernest Wright, guitarist/bassist Caleb Oldham, second guitarist John Sudman, and drummer Mark Brathwaite, Holy Ride started playing dorm rooms, parties, and other collegiate functions, while three of it's four members were running a music blog called Rare Candy, as well as a small on-campus recording studio called CU Records. I guess, what initially drew me to Caleb Oldham's cold-sent email was this line, in particular: "We sound like D'Angelo meets Mac DeMarco," which they genuinely do! Holy Ride's aptly-titled debut EP, Party Tricks, is a self-described Soul-Pop/Pop Rock-minded affair strongly influenced by Fleetwoood Mac & Prince; although, I would also, liken their sound to something reminiscent of The Beach Boys, Chester French/D.A. Wallach, Childish Gambino's "Awaken, My Love!" similarly-minded greenhorn quartet no suits, and Stones Throw multi-instrumentalists The Stepkids. Although, Party Tricks has yet to even be released to the general public, Holy Ride are already plotting their next couple moves; "we're planning to come out with 3 more EP's in the near future," stating they presently have about "a dozen" songs completed and ready to go. '"Pictures" is a song about possessing intangible things in a physical format, like personalities, dreams, or memories," Holy Ride wrote within a recent emailed conversation.

Honestly, we're ecstatic to have partnered up with Holy Ride to premiere Track #03 from their Party Tricks EP right here at The Witzard! Vocalist Julian Ernest Wright croons, "If I'm just looking for a place to sit / Blind painter / See what's new" in a very abstract, almost stream-of-conscious way over relaxed guitar riffs and an effortlessly cool musical backing provided by Caleb Oldham, John Sudman & Mark Brathwaite. Then, we hear "Pictures"' main refrain/hook: "And we take pictures of each other..." directly followed by this poetic little nugget, "Millions and millions of tiny shards of glass / In my head / Poking through" during Verse #2. In addition to The Witzard-exclusive premiere of "Pictures," we're actually, lucky enough to be sharing a video of Party Tricks opener "Spotlight" filmed in guitarist Oldham's living room and sent in as a submission to NPR's now-closed 2018 Tiny Desk Contest. Party Tricks EP was entirely produced by talented record producer, mixer, engineer, and multi-instrumentalist Sahil Ansari at Degraw Sound in Gowanus, Brooklyn, New York. Holy Ride will be self-releasing their debut EP, Party Tricks, this upcoming Friday, June 22nd on digital streaming platforms. Give Holy Ride a Follow on Facebook: Holy Ride (@HolyRideNYC) Twitter: @weareholyride, Instagram: @weareholyride, and Soundcloud or simply, HolyRide.net to stay connected regarding their future releases, upcoming shows, happenings, and all things Holy Ride. 🎈

"Let Me Shine for You:" Lindsay Lohan for Playboy (Winter 2011-12 Leak)

Lindsay Lohan essentially embodies exactly "What NOT to Do In Hollywood :" Fame, fortune, success... sex, drugs & Rock "N" Roll . Within a fairly short period of time, Lohan somehow managed to obtain a plentiful helping of POWER @ a very young age. This gradual rise-downfall was captured on film; Between 1998-2010, she portrayed a wide array of roles across the silver screen in movies including: Mean Girls, Bobby , Herbie Fully Loaded , Georgia Rule, Machete , and Freaky Friday . Between rapid-paced film shoots, Lindsay Lohan also found time to record 2 Pop Rock albums for Casablanca , Speak (2004) and A Litter More Personal-Raw (2005). Needless to say, Lindsay Lohan has gotten roped up in a lot of troubles and woes with the law over the last 3-5 years... a vicious cycle of drugs, arrest, court, rehab, "daddy issues," jail time [Repeat]. That's the pure basics of it - But Google that shit for additional info, if necessary. Towards the end of...

[W]reckless, Topless American Youth: Lana del Rey - "Born 2 Die" (Britney Spears Birthday 30)

Lana del Rey [Lizzy Grant] effectively became 2011's "It Girl" with the release of her phenomenal debut single, "Video Games" (Stranger) . Like many struggling singer-songwriters, Grant has been signed, dropped, and significantly changed her public image since bursting onto the scene (2009). With that said, it can be assumed that Lana del Rey has collected just as many "haters" as she has avid supporters. To be perfectly honest, the only other artist I can think of that made this much commotion... garnered so much wide-spread buzz/hate and critical acclaim -- right out of the gates -- with just one track is Britney Spears . And maybe in this post- Mike musical era, that's the true synthesis of Pop Culture: Britney Lynn Spears . After months of repeated teasing and speculation, Lana del Rey 's major label debut, Born 2 Die will [finally] be released this coming Jan. 30-31, 2012. Pitchfork reports that it will feature "Off to The Ra...

Liberty Bell Cracked In 1/2: Ween - "Freedom of '76" (Gene Ween's Final Send-Off)

Chocolate & Cheese (1994) was one of the first albums I bought with my own money. I was in some sort of BMG Music Club , where you'd buy 5 CD's and then get 10 for "FREE." It was all sent through mail order and you picked the titles from some special booklet. I'm almost positive that Chocolate & Cheese's side boob-baring album cover was what initially drew me in... mind you, I was 12-15 and the zany Ween logo/middle finger CD graphic really didn't hurt either. Honestly, I forget how I really felt about it @ the time, but a few years later, my older cousin Josh told me that Ween were this BIG college "jam band." CKY did some sort pf 93.3 radio takeover to promote their new album and played "Freedom of '76" late that night on air. Needless to say, I re-visited Chocolate & Cheese @ about 20-something this go 'round and I fucking loved it! Ween were really weird, yet talented... almost too talented. I can vaguel...

The Witzard

Search This Blog