Hold For Swank Dot Com


Eric Nelson Vocals/Guitar	Max Kenkel Bass/Vocals	Nick Talley Drums

From Des Moines Cityview: Remember when you were young and breaking up with your significant other and having a fling was a rite of summer? Maybe you're trying to forget. Local rockers Hold For Swank hasn't, which is why the timing of their new album, "This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things," rife with breezy tunes of young love (and lust) sugar-coated with digestible pop melodies might be the perfect soundtrack for adventurous young lovers this summer. Vocalist-guitarist Eric Nelson, bassist Max Kenkel and drummer David Dempster seem to revel in the roller-coaster emotions of heartbreak in a surprisingly uplifting way on songs like "The Woes of Love," "Does She Realize," "Sleeping With the Enemy" and "My Promise (Another Fucking Love Song)." Ah, youth. — Michael Swanger

From ArtSceneIowa.com:
Hold For Swank - 4 Stars
Similar to: Angels and Airwaves, The Fray
Hold for Swank are among the cream of the crop when talking about artists from the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area. HFS has an easily accessible sound that creeps up on the listener and once the music takes hold, it doesn’t let go until the end of the record. The most appealing part about “Nice Things” is that never does the band take themselves too seriously. Tongue in cheek nods to unrequited love and obvious clichés are sometimes hidden and sometimes very overt. A record full of great music with zero pretenses. — Tony Tarbox

From Datebook/Des Moines Register
Hold For Swank - 3 Stars
A rock trio formed in Storm Lake whose 17-track album of romantic foibles serves some catchy melodies laced with self-deprecating humor. Start with “Alicia."