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Illustrious Artists: www.illustriousartists.com

Buy the new album 'Damn You, Ra' and split 7" w/Bowerbirds at www.repressedrecords.com/

The Holy Soul live at Re-Pressed Records, Newtown.

The Holy Soul's 'I'm Spent' from 'Damn You, Ra' is on a compilation called '9', alongside Talons, Ghosts of Television etc etc...check it out.

Bookings: lukem@theharbouragency.com

Snarling guitars with lazy bluesy vocals one minute and filthy fuck-off rock n roll the next – Mar Garvey, Drum Media

The spectre of Animal Collective hangs over the Forum stage all day (or at least until The Holy Soul come stab it away with their jarring take on nocturnal ruminations) - The Vine review of the Metro FBi Fundraiser. (We'll take that as a compliment).

DAMN YOU, RA (IARC401) PRESS

Top 10 of 2009 - Dave Graney http://i94bar.com/wordpress/

Indie rock for 'Reign In Blood' - Repressed Records.

Opener ‘Working On My Soul’ is a hypnotic slow number, something one imagines Tom Waits copulating with Can would produce. Its repetitious refrain and hazily relaxed delivery is haunting and the perfect entry in to ‘Damn You, Ra’. But before you start expecting polite improvised guitar jams, ‘River’ blares out of the speakers with vicious spurts of guitar…it’s volatile music, one minute serene before careening in to a ditch of dirty riffs and a cacophony of piano and drums. The record heads towards a climax with ‘I’ll Be Drinking ‘Til We Meet Again’…the song is taut in its ability to walk the tightrope between pure unadulterated noise and cleverly constructed riffs. The record as a whole, in fact, walks that line – sometimes soft and sympathetic, other times loud and unforgiving. ‘Damn You, Ra’ is a record toying with sounds, manipulating doom and blues, colouring the music with narrative depth to make it an alluring listen. – Sevana Ohandjanian, Drum Media (CD of the week)

Accordion and gospel isn’t the most likely combination, but Sydney’s The Holy Soul manage to make it work in Damn You, Ra’s hypnotic, repetitive opener ‘Working On My Soul’. It’s that sort of track that you could only really open or close an album with. When it gives way to the hellfire and damnation of ‘River’ and its doom-ridden bridge it becomes apparent that Drones fans should be sitting up and paying attention. The appearance of that band’s former guitarist Rui Pereira on ‘Train’ is further warning: like Hendrix’s ‘Machine Gun’ and Clutch’s ‘Apache’, this is a song that sounds just like it’s title, blues harp wailing and guitar squeals hauling plenty of weighty, rock’n’rolling stock...That accordion gets a workout again on the Tom Waits-ian beer hall romp of ‘Just Another Day’, as does Waits’ actual saxophonist Ralph Carney, which is instant cool and authenticity points in my book. Garage echo-fest ‘That’s All’ is pretty freaking catchy too...The slow colonial waltz of ‘Rosetta’ is a great closer, rounding out a record that deserves much more than just a passing glance - Tal Wallace, Time Off.

Damn You, Ra is the eagerly anticipated follow up release of Sign Of The Triangle, and is ragged and evocative. The Holy Soul construct a remarkable feeling of the possibility within their music, and the exploration of this possibility is already proving evident, as the undeniable growth between their earlier releases and Damn You, Ra is one of confidence and strength. River surges ferocious guitar, shifting between serene and volatile before eventually tearing into a dissonant clamour of drums and piano. The track shifts between refined unadulterated uproar and craftily fabricated riffs. It’s characteristic of the band’s strengths and ultimately what they’re best at: grand, large-sounding songs out of illusory naturalness, something that’s perseveres throughout the duration of the album. The exceedingly memorable That’s All harks back to the band’s early garage rock eight-track live recordings, but instead sees the inclusion of a well-defined droning piano; a mere illustration of some of the experimentation found on the LP, closing a record that is truly deserving of more than a second glance, with recording practices that have since given rise to a far more polished but distinctively authentic sound. Damn You, Ra experiments with and manipulates a variety of sounds, with the final result proving to be a truly alluring and captivating album - jacONER, www.thedwarf.com.au

It roars! It howls! The Holy Soul are ones not to shy away from the most brutal sounds. They do it in a fashion though that's rough in a unique way. Well, in some of their songs from their latest release Damn You Ra at least, other songs kind of echo a slow daunting raging bull ready to pounce. When it does leaps at you it rips the insides of your intestines, ripping out your spleen, salivating on the tender skin of the buttocks and feeding the rest of the carcass to the rest of the troupe of bulls that arrived late. The Holy Soul give no eloquence here folks, and they like it that way! - www.thebandnextdoor.wordpress.com

THAT'S ALL 7" (SIN021) PRESS

In Australia, at least, there’s a constant flow of average garage bands laying blooze lix over their carefully crafted retro rock sound and because it’s such a classic combo, it somehow doesn’t cheapen everyone too much. It sure as shit makes you appreciate the bands that do it well, though. Like The Holy Soul. The big win here is that they sound like they know what punk is. It’s raw and low tech, swaggering in a way you don’t quite believe, which works out better because bravado and a forced game face are way more interesting than actual tough talk - Max Lavergne, Rose Quartz.

SIGN OF THE TRIANGLE (REV023) PRESS

’Triangle’ has all the dirty twang of the blues and country meets punk formula of the Gun Club and The Scientists, but it doesn’t live in the grimy shadow of its influences – Justin Norrie, The Age

There is a darkness on this album that will appeal to fans of the Beasts of Bourbon and The Drones, but The Holy Soul are very much their own band – Chris Scaddon, J-Mag

Top 10 LPs of 2005 - Murray Engleheart, Drum Media.

The Holy Soul’s debut long player has plenty to commend it…'Mary’s Tainted Lemonade' proceeds from a simple power strum that owes more than a nod to Link Wray’s Rumble into a potent angst-and-acid ridden slurry of guitar and feedback – Patrick Emery, Beat

Very convincing, very dark and very alive – i94bar

There’s such a naked and bleeding immediacy to what’s caught on disc that it’s hard to resist – Luke Martin, Fasterlouder

An evocative record offering vague traces of everything from Howlin’ Wolf to Link Wray to Neil Young to the Birthday Party – Arlo Stecyk, Blunt

Storms through your ears and kicks the furniture around in your brain. Mad, sad and bad in a very good way – Daily Telegraph

Le dernier disque Australien que j’avais eu en main se nommait the Bad Machines et distillait une pop electro proche de Nelly Furtado. C’était de la pop, mais pas de la pop australienne, pas de la power pop. Je ne sais pas pourquoi je dis ça puisque Holy Soul ne font pas non plus de la power pop. Ils font MIEUX! - Le Blob (Morlock), Every Day Is Like Sunday

It amazes me that something so generic exists. I struggled to get to the end of this without jumping out the window, but then again country isn't really my forte. I challenge someone to make an interesting country album, something original, something with heart that didn't just fall out of the stencil. I can't even fathom people sitting around in a room patting each other on the back after making this kind of music, let alone people listening to it. Try harder -The Buzz

LOVE HAS LEFT THE CITY LIMITS (REV007) PRESS

The Holy Soul pulled it off with ‘Jesus Caught the 5.19’ on Illustrious Artists’ stunning sampler ‘Playing Favourites’, and none of the other four songs on this EP suggest it was a fluke – i94bar

’Psychotic Notions’ gets near the essence of The Holy Soul live feel, the messy self production gives it a murky garage punk feel – Blunt

And just as you’ve settled in that drawl with a reverb twang – and there have been few better examples of that in the last half-decade than the already previewed ‘Jesus Caught The 5.19’ – thinks crank up to get really messy with ‘Psychotic Notions’, complete with the perfect running-out-of-breath harp solo – Drum Media

DAMO SUZUKI NETWORK PRESS

Annandale Hotel, February 2008

Seeing Damo Suzuki perform with a new band is akin to watching an open paint tin thrown into the air- your breath is held in suspended panic, waiting to see where the paint inevitably lands and sets. Friday was an evening of formless improvisation and interlocking moods, held together by backing band The Holy Soul (who, by the way, are about as tight as is possible without imploding). Suzuki, hardly a diminutive-looking stage presence, drew us to his world with his beautifully indiscernible words and an unrelenting web of melodies and chaos. Alternating between crystal-sounding words sung with unrivaled passion, and yelling at us in a faux-death metal tones, Suzuki proved to be one of those ridiculously versatile vocalists that most frontmen wish they could touch - Josh Gibbs, Fasterlouder.

Hopetoun Hotel, February 2009

They started gently, on Suzuki's signal, with a slow atmospheric hum underpinned by extraordinary drummer Kate Wilson and punctuated by electronic artist Peter Newman. It was a tidal thing, the music building, receding and overlapping. They seemed effortless in their togetherness, moving separately to make one evolving sound, but don't misunderstand me, this wasn't a soft or safe experience - Dale Slamma, Liveguide.