I saw Hollow Graves play their first ever show in early November, which means…. well first off, it means this post is a little overdue. But it also means that I’m one of the first to jump on the bandwagon and I’m riding this baby off the rails.
Who is Hollow Graves?
Good question. I asked myself something similar before I started obsessively listening to their album on Spotify. My friend Alex is their drummer, and I’d last seen him play in a hardcore band. I honestly thought it was the same band rebranded at first… obviously I’m an idiot. Not even slightly close to what was going on here. This is why I need to ask questions instead of being worried about looking dumb because guess who ends up looking like boo boo the damn fool either way??? It’s me!!
So Hollow Graves would probably be classified as a shoegaze band. But the few times in the past I’ve gone to shoegaze shows, I start yawning because they put me in a trance and my eyelids start to shut… but HG has an energy to them (probably due to their punk roots) that fills the room in a different way. It’s way more lively.
A couple fun facts for ya:
- These photos were taken during the soundcheck. I literally thought the show was starting and took like a billion photos. Then they said “ok thanks” and left the stage. It’s been over a month and I’m still screaming, who let me out of the house??
- Outside the venue, Alex’s mom said hi to me and clearly said “I’m the drummer’s mom!” and it took me a FULL HOUR to put together that Alex = drummer so drummer’s mom = Alex’s mom, I am working so many hours my brain is DIRT it can’t do ANYTHING
What songs should I start with?
The two main singles off of Hollow Graves are “Idle” and “Red Eye” which is probably a good place to jump in. My personal favourite started out as “On Your Shoulders” and moved into “Soda”. I think it has to do with jumping in with what feels more accessible to you and then growing into the other songs from there.
Honestly the whole album makes me feel like I’m living in a cool indie film so I don’t think it matters where you start. Put on your headphones and walk down the street, you’ll literally feel like you’re in the opening credits of your own movie.
If you end up liking Hollow Graves, you can find them on Spotify & Instagram… plus you can find them at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto on December 29th if you want to come do this with me:
