It’s already obvious to me that Reservoir by Ah Holly Fam’ly is a contender for a top 10 position of my Best of 2009 list. And, after several listens, “All Unfolding” has quickly taken the lead as my favorite track off the album. Much of its pinnacle placement is due to the dominating presence of Jeremy Faulkner’s most unique style vocals. Here the band performs the song during a practice session in a Portland basement.

On the rare occasion that you are given the honor of watching a band grow from humble and minimal beginnings to something more, it is something that must not be taken lightly. So it is with caution I approach this review of Reservoir as, buried somewhere in the midst of seemingly hundreds of boxes of albums awaiting recategorization is a slim jewel case by a band called Ah Holly Fam’ly. Xeroxed on simple paper is a cover that possesses a simple title: Ah Holly Fam’ly Sings Oh Holy …

Horse Feathers conjure an older definition of “gothic” in their music. It is the term as used in Southern fiction—at once horrible and beautiful. Like Flannery O’Connor’s short stories or Tennessee Williams’ plays, the songs are populated by families and lovers that are grotesque in the way that they can barely conceal their terrible pain, yet they experience moments that approach transformative grace.