Bloody Holiday : The Endless
Bloody Holiday
The Endless
Not much is known about Bloody Holiday, an obscure lo-fi bedroom rock project by Franco De Guzman. For one, the man has had a nomadic life. A Filipino native now residing in Los Angeles, Guzman spent his early teenage years growing up in Singapore, a sensibility that reflects in the diverse influences that colour his sophomore five track EP, The Endless. With its tracks taking from indie rock, post-punk and shoegaze, it's a downcast collection of songs that cover themes of change and breaking away from the past.
The Endless’ tracks largely feel like a series of never-ending build ups, full of repetitive, droning progressions stuffed with ambiguous lyrics on self frustration and self reflection. Endless, the EP’s self-titled opener encapsulates this spirit: an atmospheric instrumental which sounds like something straight out of Diiv’s Oshin. When Guzman finds moments of songcraft, the EP finds ways to become compelling moodpieces – like highlight Fuck Everything Up, a melancholic soundscape suitable for an ending scene of an indie coming of age film. Reminiscent of Jesus and The Mary Chain’s Just Like Honey, the track conjures a fuzzy reverie, with his vocals drowning themselves in bittersweet guitar melodies and anthemic drum beats.
However, after multiple listens, The Endless monotonous nature finds itself lacking the charm for it to be memorable beyond its initial hazy imprint. Despite its rather interesting existentialist topics, its musical ideas didn’t attempt any particularly fresh concepts that weren’t already well-tread by artists. Then again, I doubt Guzman would care much about that. It seems that he wants to maintain an ambiguous persona – seemingly a product from his love of underground rock, Bloody Holiday purely seems like an outlet for his personal musical and self exploration. There seems to be no intention of trying to impress anyone – and that’s OK.
More Reviews:
