Holy Hail

Jokey one-hit wonders Fannypack followed their 2003 jokey one hit "Cameltoe" with the incredibly lazy second album See You Next Tuesday and an unforgivably lame 2006 jingle for Old Navy clothing stores about getting one's "fash on," whatever that's supposed to mean, then had the good sense to split up. It is unsurprising but instructive to note that nowhere in the press releases for Cat Hartwell's post-Fannypack project, Holy Hail, is it mentioned that Hartwell had been the lead singer for that best-forgotten act. Holy Hail, which trades Fannypack's ironic updating of Salt-N-Pepa and L'Trimm for the equally retro but currently more fashionable new wave dance-rock revival à la the Gossip and the Rapture, is Hartwell on vocals and guitar, Kevin Cooke on vocals and keyboards, the mono-named Michally on bass, and Matt Cuttler on drums. Formed in Brooklyn (where else?) in 2005, Holy Hail recorded a ten-song demo session the following year with producer Nicolas Vernhes (Fischerspooner). Those recordings were mined for their debut single, "County Fair, Pt. 2," on the British label Playlouder in the fall of 2006. A second British single, "Born of a Star," was released on the Adventures Close to Home label in the spring of 2007 before Holy Hail signed with Kanine Records for their first American EP, Big Guns.