Congrats

Holy Fuck - Congrats
Critic Score
Based on 18 reviews
2016 Ratings: #274 / 1004
User Score
Based on 53 ratings
2016 Rank: #505
Liked by 4 people
May 27, 2016 / Release Date
LP / Format
Indietronica / Genre
Sign In to rate and review

CRITIC REVIEWS

90
Drowned in Sound

It’s good to have you back, Holy Fuck, and it’s a relief to say that the six year wait for Congrats is most definitely worth it. For all their weirdo mangled machine noise, it feels like they’ve reached a beautiful plateau - a perfect crossroads between all their disparate elements, finely tuned and full of vigour.

80
The 405
Holy Fuck have reached the point of maturity that their natural talent always deserved: Let's just hope we don't need to wait another six years to let them loose again.
80
NOW Magazine
Six years between albums isn't usually a great move for a band, but it's worked for Holy Fuck. They might've built their reputation on kinetic live shows, but taking the time to make a proper studio album has refreshed, revitalized and tightened their special sound.
80
Exclaim!

In dialling back the chaos a bit, the band have made room to let the smaller details of their dense and intricate music shine. It may have taken six years to deliver, but Congrats was worthy of the wait.

80
The Skinny
Holy Fuck are back, and they sound lean, mean and punk as... y'know, fuck.
80
DIY
Six years down the line, with nothing in the way of an explanation as to what the devil they’ve been up to, the Canadians frankly have no right whatsoever to return with such swagger, with such self-assurance, as they have done with ‘Congrats’.
80
AllMusic

Congrats still sounds unmistakably like Holy Fuck, but their vision of weird electronic pop is much clearer here.

80
musicOMH

Congrats is most certainly an album given to emotional swings, it is mean and moody one moment and ridiculously blissed out the next. If not handled carefully, such sudden changes can be jarring and uncomfortable, but Holy Fuck have found a way to make everything hang together neatly.

75
Pretty Much Amazing

all of the songs (minus one useless interlude) had at least something worth returning to as I played Congrats over and over again.

75
A.V. Club

Congrats is the welcome return of a foursome of dudes that are still plenty proficient at creating crooked, cock-eyed, almost-club jams (“Acidic”) and piling on swirling effects and rhythms to a critical mass without ever sounding like they’re losing control (“Sabbatics”).

70
PopMatters

It’s a statement of versatility from a band whose limited success previously came from forerunning a very narrow, specialized sound.

70
Tiny Mix Tapes

There are contrasts all over this record, and the sequencing keeps things fluid and lively between low, funky brooders (“Shivering”), mid-tempo rock (“Xed Eyes”) and dreamers like “Neon Dad”.

67
Consequence of Sound

Though some of the album’s second half wanes into abstraction, the dramatic arc of Congrats both begins and ends with enough strength to keep it from floundering.

66
Pitchfork

Congrats isn’t incoherent in its diversity, it just never seems to build on itself—the record lacks a definitive peak, and most of the individual tracks tend to just state their main idea fairly early on.

60
Under the Radar
Sure, they are impossible to ignore, but somehow Holy Fuck have ended up just like all the rest.
Superkick
80

REVIEW #77: Congrats by Holy Fuck

Chimes Broken’s melody is primarily led by the bassline; I can’t tell whether it’s an actual bass guitar or if it’s synth bass instead, but it’s groovy nonetheless. It slowly transitions into a wailing static sound around the middle, before progressing into the second half where you eventually get these hollow vocals that provide an atmospheric ambience to the track. And it’s a really good opener, establishing the aesthetics ... read more

SerenaInTheory
97

My Christ, what an album. Holy Fuck is a great electronic group, and this album is proof. Forcing fans to wait six years for your next project seldom results in quality but they did it. Look no further than the track Tom Tom (which, if you’ve seen Invincible, are already familiar with) to their perfection of the craft.

Holy Fuck, Holy Fuck!

OVFRIP
NR

Earth isn't yours to conquer

Purchasing Congrats from Amazon helps support Album of the Year. Or consider a donation?
Become a Donor
Donor badge, no ads + more benefits.
Advertisement

Track List

1Chimes Broken
4:51
2Tom Tom
3:47
84
3Shivering
4:21
4Xed Eyes
3:54
5Neon Dad
3:42
6House of Glass
3:00
7Sabbatics
3:24
8Shimmering
0:58
9Acidic
3:42
10Caught Up
5:20
Total Length: 36 minutes
Comments
Sign in to comment
No one has said anything yet.


Added on: February 18, 2016