Album Notes

Hollowbody’s Taking History is a glorious serving of sonic ambrosia that folds artfully wrought popcraft, mindbending sheets of ecstatic guitar, and a wildly eclectic range of influences into a powerful and distinctive sound.

Piloted by former Poi Dog Pondering guitarists Adam Sultan and Ted Cho, Hollowbody is testament to both classic I-love-that-song pop and to the astonishing and gratifying variety of sounds a really loud guitar can make in the right hands. The opening notes of the skirling, insistent “Freaks have the Best Accidents,” make it clear that the listener is in for something special, and each succeeding track underscores lead songwriter Sultan’s range and inventiveness, all the more remarkable for the material’s consistent excellence.

From the plaintive narcotic swirl of “Blue Flares” to the title track’s disquieting Morricone Island Baby soundscape, from the weary and blasted 21st-century blues of “Queen of Strays” to the shimmering Celtic backdrop and dizzying electric riffage of the instrumental “Zen Dishwasher,” Taking History is a monument to the limitless possibilities inherent in a great song played by a great band. Aided and abetted by a rotation rhythm section of impeccable pedigree (Bob Mould, the Reivers, Ed Hall, Charlie Sexton), Sultan and Cho establish themselves as a six-string tag team to be reckoned with, and their astute production heightens the music’s richness and savor without sacrificing the urgency that crackles through their live shows.

Hollowbody’s mastery of the fundamental virtues of rock—killer hooks, brilliant arrangements, and playing them like it could be your last time—has been common knowledge in their musical hometown for a while. Now, with the release of Taking History, it’s time for the rest of the world to catch up.