Holly Mcnarland : Releases >>
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Sour Pie (Ep) (6 Tracks) >>
Home Is Where My Feet Are >>
Holly McNarland has attitude to spare, a tough-as-chain-mail rocker-chick look, and a strong, powerful voice. Too bad the material fails her on this, her second album. Wan and uninspired melodies inform most of the self-penned material, while McNarland overcompensates with earnest, strangled vocalizing that decimates any subtlety that might have otherwise snuck in. The disc isn't without its strengths, however. A team of producers, including Warne Livesey (Matthew Good Band, Midnight Oil) and Mark Howard (the Tragically Hip) add enough bells and whistles to almost distract attention from the generally lacklustre tunes. But "Do You Get High" and "Losing My Face," the two cuts co-written by former Good Band guitarist Dave Genn, are both dynamic rock songs with memorable riffs and satisfying choruses. Too often though, Home Is Where My Feet Are feels as overwrought, and unintentionally silly, as its title. --Shawn Conner
Live Stuff (7 Tracks) >>
Stuff >>
Canadian Holly McNarland is living testimony that good things come in small packages. On Stuff , the diminutive waif sings like a woman three times her size, belting out a brand of full-bodied rock and pop that seems to contain experience well beyond her 23 years. But then that's McNarland's style. Sporting tattoos, facial piercings and coiffed with a short, mottled cap of jet black hair, she might have stepped right out of some goth night spot in downtown Toronto. And, judging by more than a few of her song verses, she might just have gone through the kind of experiences she sings about. But while Stuff often touches on the rougher side of interpersonal, often sexual, relationships, it balances its coarseness with delicacy and maturity. --Nick Heil
Sour Pie >>
Stuff >>
Sour Pie >>
Chin Up Buttercup >>
