Holiday Friends

Although Astoria, Ore., is best known to multiple generations of pop culture observers as the cinematic setting of the ‘80s cult classic The Goonies, the rugged riverfront city now has another distinction as the home of the fab new pop-rock combo known as Holiday Friends. On their consistently uplifting debut album Major Magic, the spirited quintet—singer-guitarist Scott Fagerland and singer-keyboardist Jesse Wityczak, who share most of the band’s songwriting duties, plus Scott’s brother Jon Fagerland on guitar, keys and vocals, bassist Zack O’Connor, and drummer Joey Ficken—deliver 10 joyous new tunes that strike a decisive blow to the enduring values of infectious melodic hooks and emotionally engaging lyrics. The band’s catchy, playful songs are refreshingly free of hipster cynicism, and they've been described as what The Beach Boys might sound like if they’d been raised in the Pacific Northwest on a steady diet of John Hughes film soundtracks, or what The Cars might be doing if they lived at Big Pink. Holiday Friends