Track Listing

1. Sleeper Agent (Just Waking Up)
2. Wave Backwards to Massachusetts
3. Hallelujah the Hills
4. The House Is All Lit Up
5. Raise the Flag of Your Sibling's Favorite Daydream
6. (The Crux of the Cameraman)
7. Slow Motion Records Broken At Break Neck Speeds
8. Effie's On The Other Side
9. The Trap
10. Collective Psychosis Begone
11. It's All Been Downhill Since the Talkies Started to Sing
12. To All My Scientist Colleagues I Bid You Farewell

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #307057 in Music
• Released on: 2007-06-05
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .13 pounds

Album Description
Hallelujah the Hills' Collective Psychosis Begone utilizes a line-up of bass, drums, cello, Moog, trumpet, melodica, sampler and plenty of guitars granting them the space to expand and contract as their melodies and arrangements see fit. Unlike some of their anthemic peers, Hallelujah the Hills find solace in the space between their crashing crescendos and choral peaks and that's a subtle strength of the band. It grants the songs a great diversity, from amped-up campfire sing-alongs to somber ballads. You'll hear notable traces of Spoon-style boogie, Thermals lo-fi fight songs, and Dylan's thick imagery dressed in dustbowl rags.

About the Artist
Hallelujah the Hills was born in 2005 out of the ashes of the cult Boston band The Stairs. On the night of their final performance Ryan Walsh (Vox, Guitar) and Eric Meyer (Drums) announced that they would start a new band, naming it after a somewhat bizarre 1960's comedy Walsh had seen in a college film class. The movie, Hallelujah the Hills, Walsh summarizes as: "These men go into woods and devote themselves to acting like nonsensical woodsmen as a way of relieving depression they're harboring about a lost love. They act and look like fools but all transformations are embarassing if you're able to take a naked look at the process." This seemed to encapsulate what they were all about musically.

Hallelujah the Hills is one of the most admirably devoted, unconventional bands to have come out of Boston in recent years. Boston has likewise been waiting for them as demonstrated by packed shows and regular accolades from the Boston Phoenix (where they are now up for an award for Best New Band) and the Boston Weekly Dig. The band's line-up of bass, drums, cello, Moog, trumpet, melodica, sampler and plenty of guitars grants them the space to expand and contract as their melodies and arrangements see fit. Think of them as the sonic equivalent to Willy Wonka's ferry ride, seemingly random yet utterly precise, first drifting along a chocolate river with a gentle lulling sound then hurtling you into the unknown with a thundering danger until you arrive somewhere entirely new, a fantastic destination full of wonder.

Unlike some of their anthemic peers, Hallelujah the Hills find solace in the space between their crashing crescendos and choral peaks and that's a subtle strength of the band. It grants the songs a great diversity, from amped-up campfire sing-alongs to somber ballads. You'll hear notable traces of Spoon-style boogie, Thermals lo-fi fight songs, and Dylan's thick imagery dressed in dustbowl rags. One of Hallelujah the Hills' most distinct qualities is an unnameable chemistry and spontaneity that makes them sound like a band, a gang of men armed with a goulash of sounds that makes one wonder how there can only be six people on stage. It is this quality that not only distinguishes them from their previous incarnation as The Stairs, but it also differentiates them from most bands in today's landscape (including any mentioned in this bio). Using this as an umbrella for the aforementioned marriage of influences (are they drunk on maple syrup, cough syrup or straight whiskey?), Hallelujah the Hills strike gold in an unmarked territory. As co-founder Ryan Walsh puts it, "if there's any tug-of-war when I'm writing, it's the one between pop song versus everything weirder than that." Hallelujah the Hills has promised to make 33 albums before breaking up. 32 more or not, Collective Psychosis Begone is one hell of a start.

Customer Reviews

How many ways can I saw "Awesome"
Hallelujah The Hills offers such a variety of sound and lyrics that there is always something to enjoy and to be learned. You can lose yourself in the music or you can focus on the words and be sucked into singer/songwriter Ryan Walsh's world -- where ordinary moments suddenly gain proportion and meaning, grow into monumental relizations. Some songs will make you think, some will make you feel, and some will just keep you moving. Most will do all three. This is a "must have" as a part of any serious music lover's collection.