Holy Pinto – ‘Stenography’

Indie punks from Canterbury, Holy Pinto are about to make their mark on the scene with the release of their catchy, innocent 3-track EP, ‘Stenography’. Working with Vince Ratti (Wonder Years/Tigers Jaw) worked well for the duo as they mixed up their pop/indie/punk influences to produce a record that could work in a multitude of different genres, at different shows and please lots of different music fans.

‘Tooth’, lead single off the EP, is simple and sweet. It’s impossible not to sing along with the main hook “so get that in your head, that you’ll get what you deserve”, proving that Holy Pinto know how to write catchy lyrics and nail it. The rest of the song fits their indie-punk theme with snappy drums and twiddly guitars.

‘Swim’ begins with more energy and a better beat and although the memorable lyrics in ‘Tooth’ draw you in, ‘Swim’ keeps you listening. It sounds more like a band crafting their art than just two musicians trying to make it work, with big choruses, filled with thrashing guitars and pounding drums. 

Final track, ‘Daughte’r, features a piano introduction, mixed with soft and silky sweet vocals giving a cute and naive feel, but also a fuller sound as the piano features amongst the mix with guitar and drums. Holy Pinto also bulk out their sound in ‘Daughter’ by using subtle, layered backing vocals half way through, with lyrics of “who do you think of when you close your eyes to fall asleep?” portraying a picture of a broken relationship. This song is by far the most promising, intricate and layered, impressive for a duo to have created. 

There are a lot of duos that make it work, Royal Blood, Nai Harvest, The White Stripes. Holy Pinto are close to nailing it, especially in ‘Daughter’, but at times are just missing something crucial to making their sound monumental. Nevertheless, ‘Stenography’ is promising, highly catchy and will attract fans of both indie and soft punk music.

OLIVIA DYTOR