Frog Holler Idiots

Record Cellar

In concert, dressed in their best dirty tees and torn jeans, the members of Frog Holler look like a gaggle of guys who have, true to their name, spent a long weekend gigging toads in the hollows of rural Berks County, Pennslvainia. that's Pennsylvania Dutch country where every game is an away game. But put stringed instruments in their hands, and they bare their souls as if it's their last night on earth.

The keys are the solid songwriting of lefty-acoustic strummer Darren Schlappich and the uncompromising instrumental support of his bandmates. The boys believe in the material, and they play it earnestly, from the heart. Schlappich refuses to be burdened with traditional songwriting structures, choosing instead to let the songs go where they may, building from passionate personal but not cloying lyrical schemes, and while there is a common tone to each of them, no two sound quite alike.

The midtempo numbers clearly are where Schlappich's soul is, although the rockers -- "Spiders & Planes", "Native Trout", "Who Will..?" -- keep the blood moving, and the live show hit is "Pennsylvania", with its singalong chorus and humorous hometown observations. Slower songs "Happy Hour", "WJKS", and "Adams Hotel Road" nail you right upside the head (to paraphrase "Adams Hotel"), and through it all, Mike Lavdanski's understated 5-string banjo playing (he barely moves his fingers) adds bright accents to each line. - Buzz McClain