We provide a complete and unified description of translational symmetry breaking in a simple holographic model. In particular, we focus on the distinction and the interplay between explicit and spontaneous breaking. We consider a class of holographic massive gravity models which allow to range continuously from one situation to the other. We study the collective degrees of freedom, the electric AC conductivity and the shear correlator in function of the explicit and spontaneous scales. We show the possibility of having a sound-to-diffusion crossover for the transverse phonons. Finally, within our model, we verify the validity of the Gell-Mann-Oakes-Renner relation. Despite of strong evidence for the absence of any standard phase relaxation mechanism, we identify a novel relaxation scale controlled by the ratio between the explicit and spontaneous breaking scales.