Saturday, December 4, 2010

Album Review: Grape Soda - Form a Sign

I've been following Grape Soda since they first started playing. I was expecting a lot from this album, but this exceeds whatever expectations any of us might have had. Look past all the keyboards & echo if you need to, Mat Lewis may be the best songwriter currently working in Athens today. Grape Soda’s music merges the robot world of Gary Numan & Kraftwerk with Motown drums and Stax vocals that end up sounding like an alien observing the strange patterns of earth--and becoming very sad & angry about the whole ridiculous mess we find ourselves in. There are two members of Grape Soda. They are brothers co-existing in a band—not Gallagher nor Davies, but closer to the unspoken psychic bond of Ron & Russell Mael from Sparks. Grape Soda is Mat Lewis (the tiny one who plays the organ) and Ryan Lewis (the less tiny one who plays the drums).


They have just released their first album, the unfortunately named Form a Sign, and it is the best thing I’ve heard all year. From anyone. Anywhere. The fuzzy organ echo sound of their demo now has slightly less echo & fuzz, more polish and more control, which at first might seem disappointing, but it enables you to hear the words, such glorious words. It had never occured to me that ‘Obvious Signs was sung from the viewpoint of someone looking back at our underclass struggles, our working unfulfillment, from a post-revolution future—pointing out the obvious signs that such a revolution was inevitable. It turns out that the lyrics, ‘we all should be dancing / so why aren’t you dancing? / everyone is dancing / you’re the only one not dancing,’ wasn’t an admonishment to the stand-still people at Grape Soda shows. It’s a tribute to that person who is no longer entertained by what passes for entertainment. Lewis continues, ‘was it cause you saw / things you had before? / Things you couldn’t believe / but you did of course.’ The ‘you’ in this story has seen behind the curtain. ‘Obvious Signs’ proves Mat Lewis a more astute soicologist than most of this town's would-be politicians, displaying a rarity in the pop/rock/underground world today—empathy, an acknowledgement of other people, insight & ideas that extend further than one’s self. 

This is what the album looks like.

Photobucket

Yes, that is one of the uglier covers in recent memory. Or to put it more diplomatically, let's just say that an album like this, swimming in ideas & mystery & imagination, deserves a better cover than this one. 

After years spent searching for signs of life in Athens music, I can't stress how refreshing this album is. Grape Soda knows what they want to say, and Grape Soda is saying it clearly. Form a Sign starts with a call to arms and ends with an anthem. Grape Soda means business. The longest song is 3 ½ minutes. 

Listen to 'Hot Toes.' The tightness in my spine, these butterflies, this need to listen to it again & again, this song affects me in ways that very little music does anymore—anywhere, not just in Athens. Everything about this song is perfect, the precise repeat delay of the keyboard—the wheezing noises in the background, an asthmatic caught in a deteriorating relationship, a crumbling world. There’s a desperation in Mat Lewis’ singing, a willingness to chase the story he is telling wherever it might go. It doesn’t show up as often on the album as it does when you see them live, but I guess that comes with the territory. One more reason why I hate studios & producers so much.

One last quibble. If I'd had my way this would have been the first song on the album.


Nothing wrong with 'Not Mine,' the song that opens the album. But I've always been a fan of burying the obvious pop single around track 3 or 4. Besides, this song--performed here in a different arrangement than usual--is the sound of someone who's been hidden away for the last couple of years, sorting through all of the world's bullshit, and they've decided to tell you what they've figured out, as they kick open the door and pin you against the wall. It would have made a perfect opener.

Sometimes I feel like I live in some strange alternate universe—one where bands like Dead Confederate, The Whigs, Modern Skirts, Venice is Sinking, Reptar, Hopeforagoldensummer, etc. are held up as the best current representations of local music. Which is pretty ironic, considering you can go to NYC, or Boston, or Chicago, or San Francisco, and find plenty of bands who sound just like them. Hell, in a lot of these bands’ cases, you could go there ten years ago and still hear plenty of stuff that sounded like them. I had no idea that sounding like Silverchair with less catchy songs had anything to do with Athens, let alone music. It hadn’t occurred to me that a less-edgy Ben Folds could mean shit to anyone over the age of 13 (apparently that band now agrees with me, as they’ve decided to ‘experiment’ by—are you ready for this?—recording in their bedroom; oh, the courage). I guess some people out there believe that Athens Music is about bands rushing to emulate outdated trends, bands who put themselves in a box and then want you to congratulate them for their excellent taste in boxes. But I digress. This isn’t about the current state of the Athens Georgia Music Scene Inc., it’s about Grape Soda. Although with this album arriving on our doorstep like a breath of fresh air, it’s hard not to mistake one for the other.

Any band in this town who doesn't listen to this album and hear a challenge being issued, a gauntlet being thrown, a white glove from some old cartoon being slapped across their face, is fucking kidding themselves.

So we can bitch & piss & moan all we want about the current state of the Athens Georgia Music Scene Inc. We can measure today against the days gone past and kick each other in disgust. But that’s all a bunch of blinkered bullshit. Quiet Hooves, Tunabunny, and now Grape Soda have all released albums this year that can stand next to any of the albums in this town’s history, defined as it is by risk & imagination, without apology. Along with bands like New Sound of Numbers, Circulatory System, (possibly) Eureka California, Antlered Auntlord, and Nutritional Peace, these people are making music that is original, passionate, moving, and infused with intelligence. The evolution is all around us, if you would only stop and listen.


7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm a little curious as to why you needed to disparage other bands in service of a positive review of Grape Soda. I doubt the Grape Soda guys have any ill will to those other bands, so why make it a horse race or a contest? It's juvenile.

The Ghost of Paul Morley said...

I appreciate your little curiosity...

I didn't NEED to disparage those bands. And I'd be surprised if Grape Soda shared my opinion (by the way, there's a difference between opinion and 'ill will,' I would be very sad if any of those bands were to be involved in an automobile crash, or even lose their jobs in this struggling economy).

I thought Grape Soda's album crystallized a lot of thoughts I've had about the local music scene over the past month. I feel that their record embodies a lot of qualities that TO ME are quintessentially Athens, as laid out in the article, in a way that those groups listed (which PLENTY of people feel represent the best of this town's current music scene) do not.

If you need me to provide you with examples of artists that sound like the ones I so cruelly 'disparaged,' drop me an e-mail and I'll be happy to do so. Or if you would like to make a case that I misrepresented the sound of either Dead Confederate or Modern Skirts, I'd be interested in reading that as well.

As far as my maturity level goes, I'm pretty sure the only place you get to go through life without being criticized is elementary school. I don't think I need to apologize for not caring about somebody's music, and I don't think I need to apologize for expressing a negative opinion about that music. Trust me, they'll be fine. I try to make it a point never to criticize a band with a lower profile than this blog.

Thanks for taking the time to write. I'm always glad when there's a diverse range of opinions in the comments section. It allows readers to consider other ideas besides my own and come to their own conclusions. Take care, anonymous, and stay warm out there.

Anonymous said...

You would NEVER hear a band like Grape Soda or Tunabunny in a place like New York City or Chicago! I mean, they're just so damned original!

The Ghost of Paul Morley said...

Hey, anonymous. You may be right (I'm assuming you're sarcastic) about those bands. I certainly wouldn't claim to have heard every single band in New York City and Chicago. If you can send me info about which band or bands they sound like, I'll be happy to write another post, acknowledging my mistake. And even if I still disagree with you, I'll write a post comparing those bands and exploring they're differences & similarities as I see it.

Appreciate the comments, people. Keep them coming.

Anonymous said...

PLEASE COME BACK AND START WRITING AGAIN! When you offer an opinion on something, it's inevitable that someone will get upset and disagree with you. Don't let that dissuade you! I love your writing and I also love the unabashed candor with which you have expressed yourself in the past! Please, please, please keep writing here!

Anonymous said...

It must have been pretty awkward when you interviewed Tunabunny, your own band a few years ago. I bet that was a compelling interview.

The Ghost of Paul Morley said...

It wasn't awkward at all. Truth is, I never even interviewed them. I made the whole thing up. I was curious how an interview would read if the dialogue wasn't constantly being attributed (said Brigette, said Mary Jane, etc.). Just a little writing experiment back in the days when I could assume with reasonable confidence that nobody was going to read it.

For what it's worth, based on that article, I think all band interviews should be written that way. Even if, ESPECIALLY if, the band members contradict one another. A band's music is really just a projection of the band member's personalities anyway--or at least it should be.

Always good to hear from you, Anonymous. Keep those comments coming.