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.
For ten bucks you can see sit on the couch with a family sized block of chocolate and a tub of ice cream OR you can dance! dance! dance!
Yup I'm lacing up my dancing shoes and catching the tail end of the triple rainbow tour - it's going to be sweeter than that tub of neapolitan ice cream.
Owen Pallett (formally Final Fantasy) opened the show. If you listen to him with your eyes closed you would swear that an orchestra would be playing, yet it’s just one man, a violin, a keyboard and a loop pedal. I won’t even bother describing how utterly beautiful his music is – just watch this (the sound quality is a bit iffy, but the atmosphere is sublime) and have a listen to this.
Then it was Sufjan’s turn. The Age of Adz show was like a sci-fi synth fused slow jam, lit by neon tape and glow sticks. The music was surreal, confusing, lengthy, bizarre, layered, luscious, chaotic, dark, moody and I found it impossible to sit still. I shifted and wiggled in my seat, desperate to dance, particularly when the balloons and confetti burst from the Opera House’s ceiling during the epically long song “Impossible soul”.
