First play of the new Holy Pinto EP, ‘Stenography’

By Ben Tipple

Hailing from Canterbury in Kent – the same city that spawned the likes of hardcore legends November Coming Fire and emo protégés Moose Blood – off-kilter indie-punk duo Holy Pinto release their new three track EP today. Entitled ‘Stenography’ the EP showcases their heartfelt sound that hints at influences as wide as The Front Bottoms and Death Cab For Cutie.

“This EP has a lot of happy vibes and the lyrics are often quite tongue in cheek,” explains Aymen Saleh – one half of the duo, completed by childhood friend Ryan Hurley. “It’s a lot more breezy and fun than some of our darker songs like our last single ‘Phantom Limb’.”

“The first track ‘Tooth’ sets that tone for the EP and flows into ‘Swim’ which is similarly quite upbeat in the music, though the lyrics though hold a bit more weight; looking after yourself and others. ‘Daughter’ is a bit darker, it’s written about a dichotomy of two different set of people – you feel like one set care about you and have your back, and conversely the other set doesn’t. The lyrics flit between addressing both parties. That felt silly to write, but yeah I suppose that’s what it’s about!”

“We worked with some great people to produce this EP,” Saleh continues when asked about what the EP adds to their catalogue. “We’re happy that all the moving parts could come together to make it work and we’re excited to get it in people’s ears. In terms of both song and sound quality, it’s our best music to date. The three tracks on the Stenography EP build on our existing catalogue, and show a new side of our band.”

“‘Tooth’ was the first song we ever wrote… We jammed out to it in our old practice room in Manchester and it came through with some El Scorcho vibes,” he continues. “We tracked it over there before we moved home last summer. The other two tracks were written more recently after we moved back home to Canterbury, and we recorded them locally. We then sent them on to our guy Vince for the mix, so the final stages were done via email!”

“We’ve got this record out on both sides of the Atlantic [Monkey Boy Records in the UK and Get This Right in the US] so we are touring hard all spring and summer to get our name out there, and having an amazing time doing so,” Saleh concludes. “In fact, this is even extending to a soon to be announced Europe tour this coming Autumn. So basically, we’re getting behind the ‘Stenography’ EP by hitting the road!”

Stream the EP in full below, and catch them in a town near you on both sides of the Atlantic very soon.


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‘Stenography’ is available now via Monkey Boy Records [UK] and Get This Right [US].