I think so far this year, Grand Archives is by far my number one guilty pleasure. I just love their album. There is no brain surgery going on here, just great songs and great grooves, and sometimes all you need is just a great song that doesn’t try to give you a message or reinvent popular music. That is why I totally love these guys, and they played a small little show at the Empty Bottle last night, and I think everyone was treated to a great show.
I really, really recommend checking out their album if you haven’t already. Of course the notable connection here is Mat Brooke, formerly of Band of Horses. He left that band somewhat on the verge of them blowing up, but I think the decision was well made after seeing this end result. The lineup consists of a lot of musicians who have played in other bands, but are really talented and they end up working together extremely well. The opener Sera Cahoone has also lended support on the album with some backup vocals. I think the beautiful thing about these guys is that they are seasoned music vets who just went out and did something that sounds awesome, rather than trying to build buzz with hype or gimmicks, they just bring incredibly solid songs and just rock them out.
Even though they are totally different kinds of bands, I was kind of reminded of when I saw Augustana a few years ago at the tiny Gypsy Tea Room, mainly because they just have these great alt/rock songs that sound awesome and are just great little melodious gems, but it’s almost like no one knows what to quite make of them because they aren’t really “indie” sounding but aren’t really mainstream either. So the similarity is that it is this kind of unknown band with these cool ass songs playing to a half empty bar, but it was awesome. Anyway, I thought it was a really great show. They kicked off with “Miniature Birds”, one of my faves off the new album, and from then on they had won me over for sure. They hit the other great songs on this great album, “Index Moon” sounded totally awesome, “Crime Window” awesome, all awesome.
They really have a great sound live, and were bantering with the crowd a fair bit about the Cubs and Bob Sagat among other things. I really hope that more people jump on board with this because I think they are definitely on to something really good here I think. They are only a week or so into their current tour, and I would say if you love just some great hooks and riffs and solid songs from a band that isn’t trying to sound like Arcade Fire or sound “indie” and is just trying to bring some awesome shit to the table, check these guys out.
The remaining tour dates are as follows:
Jun 5 2008 9:00P GROG SHOP CLEVELAND, Ohio
Jun 6 2008 9:00P EL MOCAMBO TORONTO, Ontario
Jun 7 2008 9:00P LE PETIT CAMPUS MONTREAL, Quebec
Jun 8 2008 9:00P HIGHER GROUND BURLINGTON, Vermont
Jun 9 2008 9:00P IRON HORSE NORTHAMPTON, Massachusetts
Jun 11 2008 9:00P GREAT SCOTT BOSTON, Massachusetts
Jun 12 2008 9:00P JOHNNY BRENDA’S PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania
Jun 13 2008 9:00P BOWERY BALLROOM NYC, New York
Jun 15 2008 9:00P ROCK & ROLL HOTEL DC, Washington DC
Jun 17 2008 9:00P LOCAL 506 CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina
Jun 18 2008 9:00P THE EARL ATLANTA, Georgia
Jun 19 2008 9:00P EXIT/IN NASHVILLE, Tennessee
Jun 20 2008 9:00P STICKY FINGERZ LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas
Jun 21 2008 9:00P STUBBS JR. AUSTIN, Texas
Jun 22 2008 7:30P THE CAVERN DALLAS, Texas
Jun 24 2008 9:00P SANTA FE BREWING CO. ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico
Jun 25 2008 9:00P PLUSH TUCSON, Arizona
Jun 26 2008 9:00P CASBAH SAN DIEGO, California
Jun 27 2008 9:00P THE ECHO LOS ANGELES, California
Jun 28 2008 9:00P SLIM’S SAN FRANCISCO, California
Jul 13 2008 5:00P SP20 FESTIVAL MARYMOOR PARK, Washington
Grand Archives – Sleepdriving – From Grand Archives
Grand Archives – Index Moon – From Grand Archives
