grand lake- blood sea dream.

reviewed by tony echo.

grand lake is a low fi and emotive, indie-ish band with scattered orchestral, electronic and rockabilly elements. grand lake is also a quiet, boutique-ish neighborhood north of Lake Merritt in the band's native Oakland. recommended for sailing trips, long drives through the countryside, movies about star-crossed lovers, drinking alone at dirty dive bars, smoking heroin. emphasis on presenting distinct instruments and vox, production feels very lean, live, immediate. the songs go for an epic, narrative feel, and ask for an intimate emotional connection on the part of the listener - even the songs marked "fast" are usually not danceable, more like head nodders. m vox are usually melancholy, wistful, or angry, but occasionally upbeat. when you go to shows, do you stand still in your flannel and nod your head to the beat while sipping ever-so-lightly on your microbrew? this one's for you.

sounds like: pixies, smashing pumpkins, mazzy star, sonic youth, silversun, flaming lips.
FCCs: none detected
recommended: 2, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11
*=liked, **=loved

1. slow 5.31 laconic, warm, fuzzy, melodic, echoing elec guitar reminiscent of mazzy star, backed up by gentle acoustic. emotive m vox. can't tell if drums are real or machine. you feel like looking out at a still lake by moonlight. could be theme music for the twilight series.
**2. mid 3.17 starts w/synth tones, big bass and drums. driving rhythm. lyrics are still sad, but more spare and delivered with declarative, echoing m vox. ends in distorted guitar.
*3. slow 4.40 slow rockabilly, shoegaze sensibility. heavy, laconic bass, distorted guitars, and heavy drums come and go. lyrics are nostalgic, somewhat sad. m vox has an echo, delivered powerfully. you can picture the greaser band in cry-baby singing this, if they were grimier and lived in 90s orange county.
**4. mid/fast 4.41 this is more like it. groovy, driving bass a la t rex. distorted guitars that are upbeat in places and shoegaze/introspective in others. upbeat m vox. song starts to go depresso around 2:50, but tempo picks up a bit through end.
**5. mid/fast 3.17 is that a sampled accordion? march drumbeat. around 0:35 everything drops out save a jangly, sad, wistful rockabilly guitar, then builds back up. the song does this a couple times. big, dramatic build-up, ends in gentle guitar picking.
*6. slow 2.57 strings, acoustic guitars, bare drums, occasionally the electric will cut in with some jimi-like riffs. pleasant.
**7. mid/upbeat 3.34 this is one of their, um, happier pieces. happy, jangly elec guitar, upbeat drums, fuzzy bass. a needed prozac after the first 6 songs. happy times with friends, camping out on the beach along the 1, wearing bajas and grilling hot dogs around the fire.
8. BRICK 1.20 just a ringing tone, with the occasionally thumping, echoing drum beat toward the end.
9. slow/none 3.32 sparse intro, and then at 0:47 here come the bells and guitar chords. interspersed strings. m vox are emphasized, delivered slowly and dramatically. lyrics make a "statement". is he trying to say our country lacks direction? shrug
**10. mid/fast 4.46 opens with jangly rockabilly/surf guitar notes and distorted, fuzzy bass that come and go. things start to build up to a driving rhythm around 1:00. i suppose you can jump up and down and thrash around a bit to this one.
**11. mid/fast 3.12 urgent drum beat, fuzzy, distorted guitar and bass, and m vox that recall smashing pumpkins, silversun's faster stuff contrast nicely with backing orchestral strings. last :40 is devoted to a big, epic, dark ending with ominous strings and distortion. big winner.
*12. slow 4.55 simple, wistful, dramatic. rockabilly guitar, strong m vox, spare, pounding drums. buildups where the guitar gets loud and dramatic and distorted and the drummer hits the big guys extra hard. big, epic build starts around 3:20, hits apex around 4:00, then degrades into discordant guitar distortion. i guess this is where they destroy the drum kit and stuff.