I’m generally a fan of ’90s post-hardcore stuff, or at least feel an affection for that world, so I was happy to hear The Holdout and their slice-of-life poetics and good grooves. If there’s an issue, it’s that the emotional register never varies—the poetics are grey, the waltz beats are constant. If they could abandon their own conventions for a minute, they might have something. As it is they spend what feels like two hours cruising at 35 MPH. –Matt Werts (Grafton, graftonrecords.com)