Holy Sons (band)

Holy Sons
Background information
Origin Portland, OR, USA
Genres Avant-garde
Labels Partisan Records
Members
Emil Amos

Holy Sons (band) is a one-man solo band built around Portland songwriter and drummer Emil Amos. Amos is notable for releasing "genre-bending" albums, according to LA Weekly music reviewer Chris Martins,[1] and for being a prolific songwriter; one account in Spike Magazine suggests he has written over a thousand songs.[2] Amos is also a multi-instrumentalist for groups such as Grails[3] and Om and Dolorean. Amos was born of the lo-fi home recording movement of the '80s and early '90s.[1]

Amos described the mission of his music as "facing your personal reality."[1] Amos said in an interview that, beginning at age sixteen, he used drugs every single day and didn't let up for years.[1] A music critic for The Guardian described him as a prolific songwriter and as having a "great voice".[4] Reviewer Rob Cullivan of the Portland Tribune described Holy Sons' album Survivalist Tales to be an "ode to the dime novels in the early 1900s that peddled the stoires of wilderness explorers," and described the music as "sonic wanderings" with "strange song structures."[5] A review in the Portland Mercury described his music as "dark, languid psychedelia" and commented how Amos has "habitually been kept underground" with few live performances up until the last few years.[6] His vocals have been compared to Neil Young but change personalities quite often. Willamette Week described the album Decline of the West as "a varied, meticulously constructed piece of avant-folk that stands alone by its own merits."[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Chris Martins (March 10, 2011). "Sober People Scare the Shit Out of Me". LA Weekly. http://www.laweekly.com/2011-03-10/music/sober-people-scare-the-shit-out-of-me/. Retrieved 2011-04-28. 
  2. ^ Mark Oliver Everett (2010). "Holy Sons: Survivalist Tales (Partisan Records)". Spike Magazine. http://www.spikemagazine.com/holy-sons-survivalist-tales-partisan-records.php. Retrieved 2011-04-28. "Actually the songwriting count for this project is at the 4-digit mark..." 
  3. ^ "Grails – "Almost Grew My Hair" (Stereogum Premiere)". NPR / Stereogum. February 16, 2011. http://musicnews.npr.org/article/04D49Ke7b69Iy/articles. Retrieved 2011-04-28. "Seasoned Portland instrumental out-rock quartet Grails are set to release their fifth album, Deep Politics. It the first in three years. During the time off, drummer Emil Amos (aka Holy Sons) recorded God Is Good, his first album with his other..." 
  4. ^ PJ Harvey and John Parish (1 April 2009). "Holy Sons - Evil Falls (from Decline of the West)". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/apr/01/pj-harvey-john-parish-dustin-dis. Retrieved 2011-04-28. "Another track from a Portland-based musician...." 
  5. ^ Rob Cullivan (Mar 24, 2011). "Live Music!". Portland Tribune. http://www.portlandtribune.com/features/story.php?story_id=130091850577658700. Retrieved 2011-04-28. 
  6. ^ "My, What A Busy Week!". Portland Mercury. MARCH 26, 2011. http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/my-what-a-busy-week/Content?oid=3687261. Retrieved 2011-04-28. 
  7. ^ MICHAEL MANNHEIMER (September 29, 2008). "Holy Sons, "Gnostic Device," Decline of the West (Partisan Records)". WWeek. http://localcut.wweek.com/2008/09/29/holy-sons-gnostic-device-decline-of-the-west-awful-bliss/. Retrieved 2011-04-28. 

External links