Holy Balm

Holy Balm
“Hand Over Fire” b/w “Strange Water” 7”
(Hustle Muscle)

Australian kids run with the general blueprint laid down by homeland duo Fabulous Diamonds, but take things further out on a trippy, dazed, house music-oriented tangent. Unlike Fab D, whose dance inclinations I’ve seen take shape only in the live setting, Holy Balm puts it all out front, proudly brandishing a drum computer and wobbly, dueling synth phrasing beneath vocals which bob across the surface, four paths of hot confusion resolved beneath the 4/4 kick. Stunning, and I wish it were a 12” so these songs could really let themselves loose. Your new dancefloor weapon is somehow still in print. (http://hustlemuscle.bigcartel.com)
(Doug Mosurock)


- Dusted Magazine USA

Usually when a band from Sydney plays Melbourne no one really cares, unless it’s Circle Pit. Or, it turns out, Holy Balm. For an icy evening an impressive bunch of people turned up to see these guys at the Liberty Social. In the city. Since Holy Balm make weirdo dance music, I deduced that people felt like dancing. It was also the launch of their first album, It’s You, so maybe that had something to do with it - Vice Magazine

Holy Balm, "Holy Balm Theme" Video by Angela Bermuda

We definitely got mad love for any band that creates its own theme song, and Holy Balm's mix-up of no-wave funk apparently neccessitated that kind of reaction. "Holy Balm Theme" is not exactly the 1984-based beam of confidence and swagger; instead the refrain of "I don't know what to say/I don't know what to say to you" and the awkward dancer with her bra strap hanging down give the theme a charming lack of confidence. The animations are vague Garouste and Bonetti shapes waving through the air, in the open spaces around the dancers (the band), who float around in space, going through their social motions to their own personal soundtrack. - Impose Magazine

Chicago Reader - Chicago USA
15 June 2012
12 O’Clock Track/ Holy Balm, “Take It” by Luca Cimarusti

"Take It" is a cold, dreamy electronic jam whose tempo falls somewhere between plodding and dancey. It plays out kind of like an awkward, herky-jerky version of a classic New Order number. Holy Balm are a far cry from their guitar-heavy scenemates, but their drum machines and synths communicate the same sort of freshness and attitude that makes all those Aussie bands so great.
Not Not Fun Records is handling the North American distribution for It's You.

http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2012/06/14/12-oclock-track-holy-balm-take-it - Chicago Reader

Sydney's Holy Balm reach new cosmic highs.

'It's You' begins with a conscious nod to the past, a cover of the Y-Pants no wave classic 'Favourite Sweater', originally released in 1980. Opening your debut album with a cover might seem like a terrible idea, and I would speculate that in most cases it would be, but with Holy Balm the choice seems oddly fitting. Holy Balm's approach to music making proudly harkens back to the 80s, that glittery decade of excess where synthesizers ruled the earth and to live meant to party. This is not a retro revival album though, this record is firmly planted in 2012. Whereas the earlier releases of this Sydney 3-piece were joyfully loose experiments in noisy electronica, 'It's You' shows a band that has evolved considerably over the last 2 years. In the process Holy Balm has created an incredibly modern and intelligent avant-dance pop album.

'Losing Control' is a fascinating, surreal highlight - analogue synths and percussion pulsate with an organic hypnotism not of this world. Emma Ramsay's vocals are self assured yet distant and detached, adding considerable weight to the enigmatic effect this band creates. Holy Balm are at their most thrilling during longer tracks such as 'One & Only' and 'Phone Song', where after fairly conventional beginnings the band expand outwards into the pure psychedelic dance territory that they do so well. My only complaint would be that these moments don't last even longer.

All 7 songs on display here are hits, each one with the potential to pick you up out of the gutter and blast you to the outer reaches of cosmic bliss. If you're looking for a way to briefly zone out of the harsh trappings of reality then I highly recommend this home grown slab of sonic escapism. A joint release from Sydney's RIP Society and Los Angeles' Not Not Fun Records. - 4ZZZ.org.au

Text by Owen Myers

Not Not Fun's newest recruits are Sydney-based Holy Balm, a trio as serious about their party-ready No Wave jams as they are their DIY ethic. On their freshly-released debut LP 'It's You', they combine the clattery post-disco of bands like Y Pants with Chicago house beats and Emma's luxe, sensual vocals. It would sound brilliant in a warehouse at 2am. The 'Holy Balm Theme' video is their mission statement in neon, where they float among Fresh Prince graphics like 'Groove Is In The Heart' directed by MC Escher.

Today the band exclusively premiere the one of their album highlights 'Phone Song' on Dazed Digital. In the grand scheme of Songs About Phones it's less 'Call Me Maybe' than Yazz's 'Bad Connection', but don't let that put you off. They also answer our quickfire questions below.

WHAT'S...

…The story behind your band name?
Jonathan: I was jamming solo on my keyboards in my room in ’06, and Emma and Anna came in and said "hey Yoni, will you join our band? It’s called Holy Balm." I didn’t question the name, but it had a ring to it. I think of it as a snake oil merchant, but Emma says it’s a soothing balm.

…What movie would you love to soundtrack?
Emma: A comprehensive Leigh Bowery biopic.

…the Sydney music scene like? Any local bands to recommend?
Jonathan: The scene here is pretty scattered at the moment. Lots of venues are struggling, and the warehouses are getting heat from the council. There's some really great music though, and I think people’s art and music gets more idiosyncratic and interesting in response to that difficulty.
Emma: I'm loving Love Chants, Warm Feelings, Whores, Half High (a new project from Naked On The Vague folk). Model Citizen are doing an album that will one of those 'soundtrack to your life' LPs.

…The most important song in the world to you?
Jonathan: 'Kiss Me Again' by Dinosaur.
Emma: 'Like A Prayer' by Madonna for nostalgic reasons, and 'Pretty Woman' by Roy Orbison because my brother sings it to me all of the time. Not in a gross way.
Anna: Something by Talking Heads I guess. They were my favourite band when I was little and they got me thinking all around what music can be.

…Your fashion icon?
Emma: All those birds from the Advanced Style blog.

…Your favourite type of candy?
Emma: No candy… just Whittaker's Coconut Slab for me please.?Anna: Ritter Sport.
Emma: Yeah, Hazelnut is the best.
Anna: I rate Olympia and Cornflake varieties.

…The movie you wish everyone knew about?
Emma: The Forbidden Zone (1982) and Pina Bausch's Die Klage Der Kaiserin (1990).
Anna: I saw this amazing Russian film this year called Come and See (1985), and I would certainly recommend that. The kid in it is other-worldly.

…The place you'd take me for a night out if I visited Sydney?
Jonathan: I think we’d go for a late night swim at Redleaf Pool. It’s a harbour beach with pontoons and a view of the city. Is that a little too sleazy?

…Your favourite website?
Jonathan: SPACE JAM.
Anna: The online Luscher colour test.

How would you describe your music?
Jonathan: Holy Balm is a dance band, When we perform it’s a sweaty time with lots of dancefloor moves. We like to mess around with the structures of our music, let it ride itself and the audience. It’s loose and lively, which is where we get all the NY downtown and No Wave references from, but we are pushing into a really house zone at the moment. I'm really feeling the Chicago sound. Emma’s vocals are pretty intimate at times and there is some obscurity and haze, but it’s party music and we always respect the beat. - Dazed & Confused

Last month, Sydney electronic trio Holy Balm released It’s You, an LP’s worth of distressed beats and teetering synth lines, via local scene stalwarts R.I.P. Society and Los Angeles’ Not Not Fun. Today, they’re unveiling a pretty unusual video for album cut “Losing Control” by Sydney new media artist Ella Barclay, who’s grafted the heads of band members Anna John, Emma Ramsay and Jonathan Hochman onto a trinity of floating, clam-like enclosures. Behold as they idle about a star-studded digital screensaver background for the duration of the dance track, and observe how the absurdity of the graphics is strangely well suited for the chanting, stone-faced delivery of the singers.
by Emilie Friedlander
- The Fader

New track from Sydney, Australia “avant-party” trio Holy Balm, taken from their forthcoming LP It’s You, which has found an ideal home here in the States in L.A. weirdo emporium Not Not Fun. “Take It” finds the ESG-influenced crew exploring a dystopic, danceable world inhabited by vintage drum machines and wobbly synthesizers, as Emma Ramsay’s elegantly wasted vocals lull us into a tranced-out daze: - Gorilla vs Bear