Holy Childhood is a collective of musicians who manage to combine an uncanny edge of blues, soul, electric folk, and indie. Frontman Danny Leo leads an orchestration of backing vocals, horns, piano, and guitars that are meshed beautifully in a complex manner that doesn't get lost in itself. Featuring a personnel of 18 members, the results are a soothing melody of difficult, but catchy pop aesthetics. It would be an insult to directly compare
Up With What I'm Down With to any other album. But one thing is for sure: the music gene is definitely strong in the Leo family. The name can also be found in Chisel (which was led by brother
Ted Leo),
Van Pelt, and
The Lapse (the last two fronted by other brother, Chris Leo). ~ Mike DaRonco