The Grates are back!! I am positively tickled pink, as it’s been two years since their last release; finally they have a brand-spanking-new album coming out.
Though they are minus their adorable drummer (who has enrolled in a culinary school in NYC), their first single oozes with a sound synonymous with The Grates [Translation: Solid high hats, loose guitar and sweaty, manic, animalistic good times].
They haven't released any of the music online, but they are keeping a delightfully zany blog - Hate Creep.
Now I'm going to sink into their back catalogue and relive some memories of their live shows, cue montage of thrones, animal costumes, hula hoops, rhythmic gymnastics.
Their debut album was full of doo-wop dance floor ditties, but it’s their new heart-achingly smooth songs that are setting my pulse a flutter.
"All Mine" makes me bite my lips and curl my toes in pleasure.
Oh Mercy have pulled their ingeniously titled new album "Great Barrier Grief" fresh out of the oven and they have me eating my words.
When I saw these guys warm up for Ben Folds a few years ago, I thought they were a bit underwhelming.
To brutally honest, I declared that they were boring and should be kicked off the stage because I wanted to revel in the magic of Mr Folds. But having nibbled on their album throughout the week, I realised that Oh Mercy create subtle songs that are very pleasing to the ear. In fact halfway through my first listen of the track "Let me go", I was overcome with chills and yelped out "classic! classic!".
Lessons learnt:
1. "Great Barrier Grief" is a nugget of aussie aural gold
2. Unlike Oh Mercy, I am not subtle in the least.
Sometimes band names fail to capture the style of music they produce - Summer Camp got it right.
They got it so very right.
I feel like I'm swimming in a lake of sunshine and happiness when I listen to their EP.
