This Holiday Life, The Beginning of the End of the World

My god, I miss the ’90s. What’s that you say? They’re back? But which ’90s is it, the Pixies ’90s or the Gin Blossoms ’90s? Gin Blossoms? Sweeeeet. Seriously, I’m glad to have bands like This Holiday Life bringing back to life oldies but goodies Toad the Wet Sprocket and oldies but greaties Del Amitri. The Beginning of the End of the World (available now on 7spin Records) sounds like the summer of 1993 for a fifteen-year-old kid who has yet to realize the social repercussions of not liking Nirvana. It’s incredibly catchy pop music that’s easy to listen to and guilty of being completely uncomplicated. We could use more things in life with those traits, that’s for sure.

This Holiday Life has been a staple on the San Diego music scene (a scene that seems in dire need of life — my apologies, Jason Mraz) for years, garnering a “Best Rock Album” in 2004 for their EP The Fallout and a “Best Pop Band” nomination in 2005 at the San Diego Music Awards, and regularly play over 100 shows a year, mostly up and down the West Coast. Yes, The Beginning of the End of the World is a straight pop record, but I’d like to encourage the guys in THL to try and distance themselves from comparing their music to the likes of Coldplay, U2, and Travis. Sure, those bands are whatever, but let’s get creative, shall we? I hear hints of Mr. Bungle, maybe a little bit of Ant Farmers, and whole whole lot of Cornish in a Turtleneck. Has enough been written over the years about Cornish in a Turtleneck? I think not. But no, this is really good stuff.

This Holiday Life sing about the ends of things — the ends of relationships, friendships, the world, the word “no.” That’s not all that makes up this record, though. There’s a lot of joy in these songs, a lot of spirituality, and, strangely enough, a lot of inference to starting over. Oh, and they rhyme the word “no” with “know,” and the word “go” with “gone.” Genius. Some of the song titles are a bit suspect, though — “Mission Control to My Heart,” for example, is the linguistic equivalent of an eye-roll — but overall, the album is solid. With their feet firmly planted on the West Coast, guitarist Bobby Anderson says the band is excited about expanding further east (and further south?) — make it happen, guys. We’ll be waiting.