Friday, March 7, 2008

Album Review - Grand Archives

Grand Archives – Grand Archives
[Sub Pop; 19/02/2008]

Timing is everything, so they say. In the Grand Archives case, these rules apply. The Seattle quintet, who are led by former Carissa’s Weird and Band of Horses member, Matt Brooke, render a West Coast breezy rock sensibility that holds a southern tinged smell to it, with their self-titled debut album.

Grand Archives is an album that will have one intrigued, and with songs such as ‘Sleep Driving’ this is no more than the band deserve. Sometimes you can’t deny good music, and its evident that the Grand Archives posses bits and piece of quality song-craft.

Some people like a good ditty; some like originality; some like both. If we quickly cast our minds back to the ‘timing is everything’ theory, a more triumphant outcome could have been found had Brooke and the Grand Archives released this album a couple of years earlier. His former jam acquaintances, the Band Of Horses have rendered a near identical sound template and the results have seemingly proved more fruitful for the latter.

If only Brooke pilfered the master tapes on his way out the door, then things could have been so much different. As it stands his former band and Sub Pop stable mates have their cake, which has already been eaten.

By Simon

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