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:: ------------------------------------------------- :: The Holy Cows harness anti-establishment stance By Dennis Fallon, for the CDT State College-based political rockers The Holy Cows enter the corral with stomping hooves and manic mooing with the release of their debut CD: a headline-charged, mid-'90s alternative-rock explosion mixed with hints of punk, country and metal. Singer Christopher "Cole" Hons screams, belts and wails his lungs out with a throaty squeal and rasp. His band is made up of State College musical elite: drummer Matt Zelenz, James Miller, bass player for the J.R. Mangan Band, and Mike Lee, the ever-energetic guitarist for '80s rock royalty Velveeta. With a straight-ahead sound (nothing too musically or technically challenging here), Mad like a Cow is an album of political, social and lyrical mind play. Currently the record is only available online (but the downloads are free), which is a perfect place for Hons' anti-government and modern-minded lyrics. "Grunt" is an anti-war rant, complete with a distorted guitar interpretation of the national anthem and news clips alongside thundering punk riffs a la The Misfits. "Mad like a Cow" is a Rage Against the Machine throwback -- all sludgy guitars and ponderous beats to Hons' political manifesto against the country's social state of affairs. When he sings "Mount up my Bessie and plow," it's a tongue-in-cheek call to action, a serious message hidden under over-the-top guitars and clever wordplay. "Red Heifers and White Buffalos" is an apocalyptic, acoustic sing-along about the Mayan calendar's prediction of the end of the world. The album's best track is the Commander Cody and his Airmen-inspired ditty "Spam," a comedy number about our silicon nemesis, the dreaded junk e-mail. It's witty, crude hillbilly rock -- four minutes of sheer postmodern, pop-culture brilliance. Someone license this song quickly and use it on a commercial. It's that cool. If you don't like your rock 'n' roll opinionated, political and raw, you probably don't like rock 'n' roll. Muzak and light jazz may be more your speed. But then you probably won't like The Holy Cows, either. In a sense, subject matter is what this band is all about. Musically, it's fairly standard and riskless, instead letting Hons' lyrics do the button-pushing. But in times of fear and unrest, words and music have always been our greatest weapons, a tool for holding up our sacred cows and golden calves for sacrifice and salutation. So Holy Cows, I moo for you. :: ------------------------------------------------- :: |
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