Customer Reviews

Holiday in Rhode Island

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i came across the softies a tad late on their career. being a big tiger trap fan, i decided to check out the former band members' recent solo projects. i wasn't exactly thrilled when i heard go sailor some months ago, so i sort of gave up on rose melberg... until very recently, after hearing this album.

until coming across the softies, nick drake was my rainy-day soundtrack choice. therefore, i would automatically become even more bummed and melancholic. but songs like "write it down", "these sad times" and "favourite shade of blue" add a certain sweetness and, err, soft(ie)-ness to blue moments. "holiday on rhode island" proved to be the perfect record which enables the listener to hold on to that certain sensitive/nostalgic feeling that seems to linger when happy times decide to fly somewhere far away.

i'm in love with this record, i just can't get it off my cd player. and to think that these beautiful sounds were produced in such a simple manner, using only two guitars + two vocals (and the occasional piano or vibes) just adds to how impressed i am by the softies. i highly recommend it (....

I've had this album for years, and I still can't believe how gorgeous it is. I listen to it whenever I get down about the homogenized state of most modern music and need to hear music from the heart and soul, for the heart and soul. The Softies understand the complexities and mysteries of love, as they prove on every tune of this brilliant song cycle. Nothing here is oversimplified. Sadness, joy, and deep disappointment are expressed frankly throughout. It has been suggested that this is perfect music for sleep. While I will agree that it is indeed soothing, you will not find yourself drifting off to sleep, because you'll be so entranced by the vocal harmonies and the fascinating instrumentation. I have rarely heard the instrument of electric bass used in such a creative fashion as it is on this record; check out "The Beginning Of The End" for an example. Xylophones abound, which adds to the dream-like state created by this record. And "Me And The Bees," the one tune on which drums are added, is absolutely incredible; this is one of the best tunes you've probably never heard. This just goes to show that sometimes non-drummers make the best drummers; here the drums are played in such a understated but musical way that it puts to shame the playing of many well-known modern drum professionals. This album has gotten a rep as being "chick music," as if music can be assigned a single gender. But everyone who's experienced love along with all its attendant beauty and confusion, whether a man or a woman, should hear this one. So should anyone who loves the complex harmonies of the Everly Brothers or the Beatles; this carries on the tradition. Don't waste another moment...Buy this record!

Just buy it, pop it in yer cd player and let your mind carry you off into dreamland...perfect falling asleep music!

While certainly not a dramatic departure from the Softies' previous efforts, Holiday in Rhode Island is just different enough, just more-sterling enough to justify the four years since Winter Pageant. I for one will always have a clear spot in my heart for Rose Melberg's voice, not mention her underrated and substantial gifts for crafting beautiful pop songs. "Me and the Bees" is perhaps the most haunting song The Softies have done--and this is saying something. It has a resonance and subtlety that characterizes the album as a whole--and it's clearly the standout here. (Not to mention it's the first Softies song with drums). I love this stuff. What more to say? Buy copies for your friends, your friends' friends, their enemies, and their enemies' friends' friends. The world will be a better place.