Hallelujah the Hills is not a religious experience

By JOHN BENSON

entertainment@vindy.com

With a name like Hallelujah the Hills, some folks may be expecting this indie-rock band from Bean Town to be trafficking in religious/inspirational material. This is decidedly not the case, said lead singer Ryan Walsh.

“We got that more in the beginning, which we had to expect with the word Hallelujah in the title,” said Walsh, calling from his home in the Boston area. “It’s not like some people have ever showed up at one of our shows expecting some Christian rock and get in our face. Also with the Internet, you can hear our songs so quickly I think you can figure out we’re not singing about Jesus.”

Formed roughly four years ago, Hallelujah the Hills has two albums and an EP under its belt that have drawn comparisons to the likes of Arcade Fire, Bright Eyes, Decemberists and even Buckeye native Robert Pollard.

“It’s drums, cello, trumpet, guitars, keyboard samples and singing,” Walsh said. “We get country-rock, pop, indie. We do all of those things, and we also tend to bounce around a lot, so there are some songs in all of those categories. On our most recent album, ‘Colonial Drums,’ which was released last fall, there’s a variety of different types of songs. That’s fun for us. We have country ballad ‘Put the Gurus in Charge,’ and the next song after it is ‘Blank Passports,’ which is like a post-punk thing. I think they belong together. We just let the ideas be in charge and let the best idea win.”

As for the band’s upcoming Youngstown debut Sunday at the Lemon Grove, Walsh said he’s not quite sure what to expect after an interesting encounter with a Mahoning County resident on the Internet.

“Someone on our Facebook page said, ‘Hey, great you’re coming to Youngstown. I’m looking forward to it,’” Walsh said. “I said, ‘What can we expect?’ And they wrote this desolate description like rough decay. I couldn’t tell if they were joking.”

Sadly, there may be some truth in that description. That said, is the band still coming?

“Of course, of course,” Walsh said. “It sounds like a town I’d kind of like actually. It just sounds like it’s not strip malls and Kmarts. I’ve seen a lot of pictures of rust-belt towns, and it’s gorgeous imagery. Even though sometimes it means not the best thing for the people who live there. I understand that.”

So what exactly will people get from a Hallelujah the Hills live show?

“I hope they feel good, excited, and maybe want to make something themselves,” Walsh said.

Ah, so the band is inspirational in a nonreligious way.

“I didn’t use that word,” Walsh said, laughing. “If it inspired someone to create something themselves, that would be great. I’d like that. I like when I walk away from a show like that.”