Tiny Ruins
Olympic Girls
Release Date: Feb 1, 2019
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Alternative Singer/Songwriter, Indie Folk
Record label: Ba Da Bing Records
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Album Review: Olympic Girls by Tiny Ruins
Very Good, Based on 6 Critics
Based on rating 7.4/10
Though extended spans between albums from a beloved musician can be worrisome or even infuriating for fans, it can be a sign of necessary inspiration, too. Such is the case for New Zealand singer/songwriter Hollie Fullbrook, who has released records under the name Tiny Ruins since 2010. Four years ago, after the exhaustive touring cycle behind 2014's already heavy-hearted Brightly Painted One, Fullbrook felt depleted and numb.
Based on rating 3.7/5
A cure for what ails you Olympic Girls is kind of adorable. If you're facing the day with a pounding head - be it self-inflicted or otherwise - this is just the thing to bring you back to earth. The latest from New Zealand's Tiny Ruins is familiar and comforting in the best sort of way - a smooth mixture of indie folk 'n dream pop that warms the soul with ease.
Based on rating 7/10
Olympic Girls begins in long weekend exhilaration, "stirring / shaking / all of us waking." It drips and it blinds you, its tempo flaring like the kind of daylight that makes you consider the passage of time. Hollie Fullbrook spouts intricate story-songs like those that made 2014's Brightly Painted One lacy leafwork. She scrawls "your name in cursive / on the air," watches as "five million flowers / spill to the river." But Olympic Girls' eyes also have dizzy diamonds in them, and suddenly, more is possible. A Greek sculpture yearns in ….
Based on rating 6.5/10
A wistful and autumnal, stark yet rich acoustic folk album, Olympic Girls is the first internationally released LP (and third album overall) for Auckland, New Zealand singer/songwriter Hollie Fullbrook, who records under the name Tiny Ruins. Having teamed with David Lynch back in 2016 on the single "Dream Wave," there's a more straightforward sense to the material showcased here, centered around Fullbrook's Nick Drake-like vocal and songwriting talents supported occasionally and sparingly by bassist Cass Basil, drummer Alex Freer, and Tom Healy on guitar. Standouts include the propulsive, evocative "Sparklers," the pastoral, woozy "Kore Waits in the Underworld," and the crashing, doom-laden change of pace "One Million Flowers.
Based on rating 3/5
New Zealander Hollie Fullbrook has a sharp eye for detail. As her solo project-turned-band Tiny Ruins has grown and evolved, it has been this that has caught the ear of everyone from The Clean's Hamish Kilgour to David Lynch. Tautly cryptic, but with a keen sense of place, Hollie is able to build quietly emotive vignettes with ease. However there was a feeling permeating their last two records that everything is at arm's length, not fully letting us inside her stories.
Opinion: Excellent
Olympic Girls by Tiny Ruins NZ songwriter Hollie Fullbrook opens up the strummy, self-reveal significantly in this third album, enlarging her pensive ditties with dramatic gestures in strings, percussion, keyboards and additional guitars. She does this deftly, without sacrificing the personal, idiosyncratic connection with listeners. You still feel like she's telling you, craftily, in meter and metaphor, about a series of events that made an impression on her.
'Olympic Girls'
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