Love as Laughter: Holy : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

For more than a decade, this Brooklyn band has been one of indie rock's best-kept secrets, but its sixth album may change all that. Holy arrives with the blessing of Modest Mouse's Isaac Brock, who picked Love as Laughter as an opening act last year and signed them to his new record label. Modest Mouse fans will find much to admire here. Singer-songwriter Sam Jayne has an affection for classic rock and a great sense of whimsy about it. The title track hitches a melody from Sly and the Family Stone's "Everybody Is a Star" to skewed lyrics about sin and redemption. "Holy's never out of reach," he sings. "I heard that demons don't hit the beach." Jayne also shares Stephen Malkmus' knack for ragged guitars, rigorous songcraft and pleasantly puzzling lyrics. On "All Parts of Me," skittering Afro-pop-flavored verses give way to cresting choruses, with Jayne singing inspired bursts of doggerel: "Top of the holly-jolly, my holy collar is falling off." He doesn't shy from the big subjects — love, death, immortality — but any hint of bombast is undercut by woozy humor. In "Coconut Fakes," he comforts a friend: "We're gonna get stoned with you/And laugh at your mistakes." That promise could be the band's motto.