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Holy Fuck: Congrats (2016)

Artist Holy Fuck
Album Congrats
Release 2016
Format digital

Thoughts & Feelings

The first time I heard Holy Fuck was on Monday, May 15, 2017, at the DC9 nightclub in Washington, DC, opening for the band Light Beams (pictured). I was there meeting a brand new friend for our first hangout. Before the show we were chatting on the rooftop when I found out someone my ex cheated on me with worked there, and then we were on the concert room floor within sweating distance of the band when I forgot all about it, trapped in rhythm.

Listening to this whole album is a whirlwind; it's short at less than 40 minutes across 10 songs, but still feels like a complete meal. I won't say each track feels complete because one of the things I love about "Chimes Broken" is that it drives you straight into whatever comes next, whether that's the next song on your playlist, shuffle, or the album. The song wants you to look ahead and stay with it simultaneously. It's a strong start for an album and it was the first thing they played when I saw them live. I was quickly consumed.

When "Shivering" comes on I have to stop anything I'm doing and dance. The first time I heard this song I felt like I was moving my body in new ways. This is a multi-emotion track that hits me contextually. Whatever I'm feeling at the moment, I'll suddenly get more romantic with it, more intimate as my body follows the motions of the emotions through the song.

Like "Chimes Broken," "Sabbatics" feels like running, but this time instead of moving towards what's next, I'm running in place. I wouldn't call it an uncomfortable feeling of being "stuck," but more like I'm reflecting, deciding, figuring it out. It's appropriate that the last track is called "Caught Up" because that's what the album does to you. I could lay here and listen for hours, caught up in the movements of these sounds.

Random facts:

  • Holy Fuck is from Toronto, Canada, and formed in 2004.
  • They create electronic music without using laptops or prerecorded backing tracks.

Favorite tracks:

  • Chimes Broken
  • Shivering
  • House of Glass
  • Acidic

On the right a singer uses his microphone, standing in front of a drumset and guitarist and the DC9 sign. On the left stands the crowd, all same level on the floor.
Light Beams at DC9 in Washington, DC (2017)