I initially discovered Fax Holiday last week when I saw them open during the Bunny’s A Swine show last week. After their set I approached singer Eric Schermerhorn and he handed me what I would call, for lack of a better phrase, a “Fax Holiday Greatest Hits” cd. Since the band does not have a new full-length (their last was recorded in 2011), the disk he gave me had a smattering of old stuff and a couple more-recent tracks (from 2012, all of which can be found on their bandcamp site.)
I’m really into what these guys are doing. As mentioned in the Bunny is a Swine review, the autoharp Schermerhorn plays is awesome. It adds this trippy, eerie sort of sounds to the already lo-fi recordings. One of the newer tracks “Lots of Glass”, makes excellent use of the electric autoharp. The whole track sounds like Doug Martsch of Built to Spill died, came back as a ghost, and held a concert in an abandoned mansion–yeah, I think it sounds pretty cool, too.
“Chameleon” (from their record, Rope and Wine) is another track full of ethereal, ghostly qualities. From the somber chord progression, to the spacey leads and mournful refrain of “Hey, no need to be so upset”, it’s difficult not to become immersed in this song.
Fax Holiday will be playing O’Brien’s in Allston on July 11. Check their Facebook for more details. –Dan McMahon