Grand Archives at the Crocodile, Seattle | 24 September 2009
Saying a band will make you ache with sadness is not really a much of an impetus for getting you out of the house to see a gig. A review that states they melted my face with their insane rock might do a better job of that, but Grand Archives make slow and sad pretty damn engaging. Their songs slowly build like a steam engine making it’s way from the station. Before you know it the song has filled the room with and taken over your conscious. At first glance you might think a band like Grand Archives shouldn’t be starting a gig too late for fear of lullaby-ing the audience to sleep, but the band not coming out until just before midnight appeared confident in their powers of arousal and stimulating consciousness.
Like they do on their new album Grand Archives started things off with the double ukulele attack of Topsy’s Revenge. One uke is always a treat, but as they say, two is always better than one, and then when you add in the bass hum of the cello, you pretty much cannot go wrong even if the song’s subject matter is Thomas Edison electrocuting an elephant. Grand Archives can make just about anything sound heart wrenchingly beautiful, mostly is because Mat Brooke’s voice just sounds achingly sad. He could sing a song about winning the lottery and ending world hunger and it would still be tinged with autumnal sadness. Since they were playing a hometown record release gig, they had the luxury of bringing Mat Brooke’s former Carissa’s Weird band mate Jenn Ghetto (Ghetto’s band S was on the bill this night as well) on stage to sing on a couple songs which was not only a thrill to see, but kind of mini-reunion. Grand Archives have been known for a choice cover or two and tonight we got a surprising version of ELO‘s Telephone Line, except where Jeff Lynne and his band flourished the song with cheesy synth electronic flourishes, Brooke and his band gave us a straightforward harmony laden version. As with the first their first album, it took seeing the songs live to really appreciate them, though I think that the band have done a better job on their new one Keep In Mind Frankenstein of nailing their live selves. And Yeah, they easily kept me awake past my bedtime.
mp3: Grand Archives – Silver Among the Gold (buy some Grand Archives)
Catch them on tour in a town near you:
Sep 26 BILTMORE VANCOUVER, British Columbia
Sep 28 THE BIG DIPPER SPOKANE, Washington
Sep 29 HABITAT KELOWNA, British Columbia
Sep 30 PALOMINO CALGARY, Alberta
Oct 1 STARLIGHT EDMONTON, Alberta
Oct 2 LOUIS PUB SASKATOON, Saskatchewan
Oct 3 PYRAMID WINNIPEG, Manitoba
Oct 5 HIGH NOON SALOON MADISON, Wisconsin
Oct 6 BEACHLAND TAVERN CLEVELAND, Ohio
Oct 7 JOHNNY BRENDA’S PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania
Oct 8 LE POISSON ROUGE NYC, New York
Oct 9 SOUTHPAW BROOKLYN, New York
Oct 10 GREAT SCOTT BOSTON, Massachusetts
Oct 12 IRON HORSE NORTHAMPTON, Massachusetts
Oct 13 CLUB METRONOME BURLINGTON, Vermont
Oct 14 GREEN ROOM MONTREAL, Quebec
Oct 15 MOD CLUB TORONTO, Ontario
Oct 16 PIKE ROOM PONTIAC, Michigan
Oct 17 SCHUBAS CHICAGO, Illinois
Oct 19 7th STREET ENTRY MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota
Oct 22 KILBY COURT SALT LAKE CITY, Utah
Oct 23 NEUROLUX BOISE, Idaho
Nov 12 CREPE PLACE SANTA CRUZ, California
Nov 13 BOOTLEG THEATRE LOS ANGELES, California
Nov 14 DETROIT BAR COSTA MESA, California
Nov 17 PLUSH TUCSON, Arizona
Nov 18 RHYTHM ROOM PHOENIX, Arizona
Nov 19 LAUNCHPAD ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico
Nov 20 LARIMER LOUNGE DENVER, Colorado
the finest kiss 