Holiday Music Review

Malone Malone for the Holidays EP

In the most recent print issue of TTWN we reviewed the final Malone EP, The Tropic of Malone, thus bringing to a close the history of one of Columbia's more interesting bands. However ther ewas one chapter that was still uncovered and we realized it was time to bring it to light. With that in mind let's exam Malone's late 2009 release Malone for the Holidays.

The three song EP starts off with "Christmastime This Year," a high energy uptempo raveup that takes from both the British Invasion of the 1960s and from 80s "college rock" to create a catchy, rockin' song for the occasion. "Do It For The Kids" is a more introspective number that takes on a midtempo, almost ballad-like nature and a more somber tone filled by guitar anpeggio jangle and a simmering vibe that fits the feel of the song more. Then there's "Christmas on the Moon" which draws from roots rock as much as indie and delivers a partly chaotic, somewhat twangy with rough guitar power chords and a vibe that borders on charging the barricades. It's high energy aural attack brings this to a uplifting, if somewhat humorous, conclusion.

This limited edition release was burned onto CD-R just before a December 2009 show in Columbia. Why didn't we cover it then? We would've if we'd known about it. Instead I found out about the EP at the band's farewell show back in May and realized it was javascript:void(0)best to wait until the Holiday season to look at this EP.

Malone for the Holidays is a breezy, melodic disc that shows the band just having fun with a few songs. Definitely will rock your holiday season.

www.malonetheband.com