Grails - The Burden of Hope
(Neurot)
On first glance, you'd assume Grails had an incurable Godspeed You Black
Emperor obsession. The use of strings to accent the guitar part and the impassioned crescendos are well-worn tricks of Godspeed. But it quickly becomes clear that there are subtler things at work in Grails' music. I can't put my finger on any specific band (other than Sun City Girls, but only because they cover one of their songs), but there is a definite theme throughout this record of experimentation, which manifests itself in exciting songs with elliptical structures and instruments being pushed to the point of abuse. What makes that such a successful distinction from all the other bands that have tried going down Godspeed's route is that Grails' experimentation doesn't distract them from making their songs have punch, and decent enough melodies to carry the crescendos.
The aforementioned cover of the Sun City Girls is "Space Prophet Dogon," which comes in halfway through the record, effectively breaking it up into two halves. The way they interpret it, it doesn't sound out of place at all, but it does have a distinctly different mood (uplift, versus catastrophe). The guitar playing underlies all of the songs. Rarely resorting to the usual barre chords or furiously strummed lines, the guitar pulses and flows. There are plenty of small guitar parts that illustrate it, but the first song, "Burden of Hope" is the first indication that the guitar playing will have something more to it.
Burden of Hope introduces an exciting band who will surely prove to be one worth watching. I eagerly anticipate where they'll take themselves next.
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