The Out Crowd
Then I Saw The Holy City

Skyscraper Magazine
...14 tracks of a lot of California psychedelia (think Love), a little blues riffing (think the Stones), and a late sixties vibe mix of pop and rock. And, it's been a long time since the sixties sounded so good... Holy City is the place The Warlocks probably wish they could be.

Buzz Magazine (Australia)
The Out Crowd have mastered the quintesential love filled ideals of the 60's and delivered them with an accessible now kind of feel. 4 stars

Manifesto Magazine (Australia)
The Out Crowd are the sonic transmitters of a circa 1960's psychedelic, retro rock and Brit-folk sound...An album which builds into a stoned warmth of reverb wash, with puffs of folk and fuzz, ringing guitars swirling into a day dream blend of layered rock and groove. Now I have been given the music, an understated pleasure, all I need is the road trip

Alibi
Matt Hollywood and his cadre of rock kids make well-chosen sonic references to four decades of songwriting to give The Holy City a spot-on rock mood.

Salt Lake City Weekly
Then I Saw the Holy City is the latest and perhaps greatest representation of the oft-forgotten modern-psychedelic movement!

The Stranger
For those who saw Dig!, remember the mercurial songwriter in Brian Jonestown Massacre who wasn't Anton Newcombe? His name is Matt Hollywood and he now lives in Portland, revealing his inner Blur/Ride--and, of course, a little BJM--with the Out Crowd. The jangle- and fuzz-heavy band revel in spaced-out bliss and tambourine-accented pop where the male/female vocal harmonies will take you to a higher plane...

Somewhere Cold 5 stars
The campy “Little Elf” starts off Then I Saw The Holy City, complete with faux-British-accent-spoken-word introduction during the song’s opening seconds. The music kicks in, revealing a passion for ‘60’s arrangements, as distant trumpets, bouncy basslines, and tambourine-infused drumming fill the song. The vocals of Matt Hollywood sound druggy, unpolished and raw, yet bring a level of charm, attitude, and even legitimacy...

Splendid
a sound that's both airily engaging and blissfully supercharged... Then I Saw the Holy City's coma-fried highs are enough to make even the stodgiest slack-jaw sit up and take flight.

Portland Mercury
The Out Crowd create a beautifully sinuous approximation of the past--languid and listless, stoned and sincere.

The Hub Weekly
The Out Crowd finds Hollywood very much at the wheel, reigning in the freewheeling sonic territory of his previous band and aiming it instead in several new and unexpected directions... it's exciting to find out what comes next.

All Music Guide - 4.5 stars
"A rock & roll band from Portland, OR" doesn't sound like the most enticing of come-ons when looking for a healthy swig of shaggy rock moonshine. But the understatement by this "not Seattle" based five-piece is one of the most intoxicating slabs of retro rock to hit the shelves in 2004...Who ever said dope, acid and rock & roll was a bad idea?

Villanovan
Top 10 of 2004, 7. The Out Crowd, "Then I Saw The Holy City"
I believe it was Walter Sobchek of "Big Lebowski" fame who once said, "Do you see what happens when you meet a stranger in the Alps and you feed him scrambled eggs?" With that in mind, Portland band The Out Crowd is that stranger, and they've got a good omelet with their debut album. Like many bands from their area, they exude a psychedelic sound with "strung out" vocals, guitars and synthesizers, so much so that their debut clocks in at 72:39 with only 14 songs. Overall, they take the '60s-esque Portland scene to an even higher level, all with the help of members from the Brian Jonestown Massacre and the approval of The Dandy Warhols.

Tablet Magazine
The old question of which came first certainly applies to the Out Crowd. Band founder, Matt Hollywood, was also the original lead guitarist for the Brian Jonestown Massacre and both bands share that same Brit-rock drone, coupled with Velvet Underground-cool vocals. It matters not who came up with the sound first, what does matter is that the Out Crowd have nailed it beautifully.

Indie Workshop
Reminiscent of The Kinks, early Pink Floyd, and even a bit of Elephant 6 neo-psych, the Out Crowd is the latest project from Matt Hollywood, who was the co-founder and co-songwriter of Brian Jonestown Massacre.

The band backs up the image with mind-tripping rock-n-roll of the highest caliber... If you enjoy the Out Crowd’s shtick, you’ll probably dig every track on Then I Saw the Holy City. My advice to you is to get your hands on some brownies and a copy of this album stat.