By Joe Metro
“It’s not a phase, Mom!” I shout as I slam my door and blast “Shiitake Mushrooms.” My roommate, who is not my mother, has a very bewildered look on his face as he wonders why a 28-year-old man is filled with such teenage angst and rage. Simply put, Only You Know kicks some major butt.
This album, by heartthrobs Hollow Hill, feels like a love letter to 2000s-2010s emo rock/punk rock. I could take any of these songs and slot them into an episode of One Tree Hill or Vampire Diaries – really any CW show – and they would fit like a glove. The band had this to say regarding the theme of Only You Know: “The album is really just navigating all the complications and ups and downs of relationships, and how the only one who really knows what happened is that other person and yourself.”
There are so many bangers on this album. “Couldn’t Care Less” is arguably my favorite track here. It is so reminiscent of “Ocean Avenue” by Yellowcard. The track takes me back to a simpler time, when I was a younger man with a full head of hair; life was stress-free, and my responsibilities consisted of finding a date to the dance and passing Mr. Grant’s biology midterm. Mitch Squires does an incredible job with his vocals (as he is wont to do), and you can’t help but bob your head along with the song.
Another gem of a song on this album is “Shiitake Mushrooms,” which provides the group’s harder rock sound previously unheard outside of their live shows. In true Utah fashion, they substitute a cuss word with saying “Shiitake Mushrooms” due to the fact the person’s mother, who the narrator is singing to, is going to hear the song. It’s very clever writing and so incredibly fun to sing along with.
I am genuinely surprised to hear “Alright” in 2025 and not on Spotify’s early 2000s emo rock mix. The heavy-handed opening riff leading into Mitch’s silky smooth voice provides that stellar nostalgia vibe. I absolutely love the sound bite from It’s a Wonderful Life. It fits the song incredibly well and allows a great opportunity for an instrumental break with some midwest emo-esque guitar through it.
“Fade Into Me” goes unbelievably hard. If you are just looking to damage your neck from headbanging, then put this track on and please enjoy Mitch doing an insane job screaming. Upon hearing this banger, my roommate said, “Hey, that’s not bad,” which is incredibly high praise given that he grew up performing in musicals and going to the opera. He didn’t go to his first rock show until 2024.
Not a lot of bands in the scene can say that they wrote and produced their own album. Hollow Hill Recording did a fantastic job with these tracks. Caleb Browning, bass player and audio engineer for the band, has taken great care and pride in his work. It’s great to see the support for the local scene grow with another recording house in the area.
My biggest complaint with this album is, coincidentally, also my biggest complaint with Johto’s third gym and Whitney’s Miltank: rollout. Nine of the eleven tracks were released as singles leading up to the drop of Only You Know. I reached out to the band about this, and they said doing so is the most common/most recommended way to release an album these days and gives each song a chance to have the spotlight. While I acknowledge this is the best way for each song to have that moment in the spotlight, I feel like it removes some mystery and wonder from having a majority of the album new and unfamiliar. It makes the release feel like a collection of singles as opposed to an album working together. I understand that not everyone will listen to the full album and just stick with the quote unquote popular songs; however, saving a bit allows a treat for those that do.
A suggestion I have would be to adjust the order of the album to create a better flow. It’s a tad jarring going from “Not Over You” to “Shiitake Mushrooms” then “19.” There’s a certain art or feng shui to album order, and I believe Only You Know could benefit from that. A more careful layout could have helped bring these tracks together into a more cohesive album too, which could have made the rollout smoother.
At the end of the day, Hollow Hill rocks. Whether you are familiar with them through singing primary songs in an emo style or if you follow Mitch’s secret Instagram account dedicated to his luscious locks, Hollow Hill is a band to listen to and follow. They’ve teased a harder rock direction for a couple of years now on stage, but it is so nice to have the full album finally out. Their releases are top quality, and the fellas are no slouches when it comes to their live shows. If you get the chance to see them live, please do so!
Follow them on Instagram! Listen to Shiitake Mushrooms on Spotify!