Holoscene are eager to please. The Toronto quartet's self-released EP, Nothing is the End of Everything combines a choice selection of musical cuts, each song encompassing different instrumentation, different ideas, and a lot of epic climaxes. However, not all will bring instant pleasure to your well-trained musical ear. On paper, everything Holoscene includes should work: drumming that Chris Hrasky would be proud of; a bleak vocal chorus on “Telesterion” that Frankie Sparo would be happy to call his own; even the almost-obligatory muffled spoken-word samples. Yet, there’s something missing and I’d suggest it’s an essence of individuality. It is mentally tiring to sit through Nothing is the End of Everything and not want to listen to how Explosions in the Sky and Red Sparowes got there before Holoscene had even started.

Admittedly, Holoscene imitate incredibly well, their instrumentation is both expansive and immense. Each member is so closely attuned to his selected instrument that Holoscene are worth listening to just on the merits of technical skill. The climax of “Sleeping in Fields” could and should last much longer, but it’s almost as if Holoscene are aware of this and withhold from the grand finale. They understand that they’re a promising band but purposely fall short of that last hurdle, simply because they’re afraid of treading onto new territory. What should lurk behind their obvious technical prowess is creative vision, but, sadly, this is the one thing Holoscene are lacking and without this, Nothing is the End of Everything becomes scarily familiar, simply because you’ve heard it all before.

Holoscene do provide the listener with some hope, however. “Floes” is an amazing composition. The group resist their obvious urge to rock-out and instead draw on a Sigur Rós influences to craft a surprisingly calm and flowing piece. The song is just so far down on the track listing that it's difficult to maintain any interest in the band before we reach it. I’m certain that whoever co-ordinated the order of the tracks wasn’t thinking clearly at the time. Opener “The Fourth of January” is the worst song on the EP, and when the mumbling singer stops, well, mumbling that “this is goodbye,” we're thankful that they’re going. In fact, we’re waving goodbye right back at them. Then we realize that there are four more tracks to get through. Really, who on earth would open a record with a song that ends in persistent chanting that the band is now leaving? Holoscene might as well say, “Yes, that’s as good as it gets. You’re on your own now, we weren’t that interested anyway”. Thankfully, the EP does pick up from such a terrible opener, and in the words of Kim Gordon, it “doesn’t sound half bad”.

There is a conflict of interests at Camp Holoscene. The band is obviously able to create their own campfires, with embers that burn bright from songs such as “Sleeping in Fields” and “Floes.” Yet, regretfully, it seems the quartet is much happier burning effigies of Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky than fanning their own flames.

-Holly Joy Emblem