My own thoughts on Grimstone

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Hah! For the time being you just get to hear from me, you lucky people. When the music cognoscenti start reviewing the CD I'll make sure I get links added to this page as soon as possible.

This is a work in progress.... My opinions, which will no doubt evolve over the next 100 listens, are my own and do not represent those of either the band or Woronzow.

First news of the release was when I got the info mailout from Ade and Nick at Woronzow on Thursday 25th July 2002. I mailed Ade right back and begged a copy from him which he posted immediately. Of course my postman can't be arsed to deliver until 9:30 so I had to wait till I got back from work. Would it fit through the letter box? Would I find a "while you were out" slip and face more delay traipsing off to a sorting office to get it? But no, it was there, hurray! Thanks Ade!

Let's kick off with a track listing to give me some time to think:

You come alive, Doppleganger, The children, Find out, In everything I saw, Life in hell, Napoleon, Wait for no one, Pigeon, Rock stars, Strange times, I hate this town.

Woke up Saturday a.m. with Doppleganger racing through my mind after three listens Friday night. They've done it again! Almost too many memorable tunes on one CD, all competing for attention, but Doppleganger won out this time. The children, In everything I saw, and Wait for no one, are candidate anthems at this point in time. Beautiful.

So, first impressions (during fourth, fifth and sixth listens, Saturday morning)

You come alive (Murphy) - Swirling hammondy intro but there the psych influence ends. Blimey, Rich sounding like Edwyn Collins in early Orange Juice days for the verses. He's clearly been working on his vocals and doesn't need to get gravelly on us. Superb harmonies on the choruses, which are rather catchy...

Doppleganger (Strawbridge/Hughes)- Frenzied, rocking out intro with vocoder vocals soon moves into beautiful complex melodies, Al's pure bell-like vocals, and excellent harmonies on chorus, "... if your double is a doppleganger you will die, in the mirror you can see the finger in the pie...". Defy you to ignore that line, it'll hook itself into your brain and loop all night. Short sharp ending, no messing. This should be the first single.

The children (Adams/Hughes) - Grand, melancholy, Open Gardens-esque, organ and skied-out guitar intro. Luke singing I think, great resonant voice. "All around the land, the little ones are playing..., they're busy in the sand, they're hungry (?) but they're staying...". Stays at a carefully paced stomping beat, but builds in emotion - simply beautiful, you have to hear it.

Find out (Murphy) - Mix is a bit flat, making Rich's slightly Gallagher-ish vocals more subdued than would be good, but they get more prominent after the first verse. Pure 2002 - melodic indie rock with the usual more than satisfying chorus. Classic fade out at the end. Three minutes of pure pop. Adjust the mix to brighten up the initial vocals and you'd have a single on your hands.

In everything I saw (Hughes) - Whoowho! Here's a surprise. Take yourself down a notch, relax into the sound of crickets chirruping and and a Carpenters-evoking piano intro. Young Tom starts singing. Hmm, slightly reedy voice. Can he carry it off? Yes he can! Hang on in there, this song builds with a Sparklehorse-like desperation to a beautiful, plaintive chorus. By the next chorus, with the rest of the band contributing vocals and Tom's voice ragged with tears you will want to just give him a big hug. Lovely.

Life in hell (Strawbridge) - Back to an earlier LB's style. Close harmonies to die for in a minor key, and Al's voice hitting those high notes perfectly. Love to see the lyrics for this one, Al's having a cynical moment I think. "God I don't know anything about you, and it's time for me to come and join you". Memorable chorus.

Napoleon (Strawbridge) - Fast-paced and definitely evokative of the 60s, great aggressive vocals, with a peculiar Lai/Bacharach style break in the middle (which works of course).

Wait for no one (Murphy) - Led Zep-reminiscent pizzicato guitar, with Rich smooth and emotionally gritty on lead vocals and the others assisting him beautifully on the instantly memorable refrain of "..you wait for no one...". Builds to a huge wall-of-jangling-guitars climax and then gently ends with echoes back to the main tune. Single????

Pigeon (Teague/Adams/Hughes) - one that's been around for a while on the live set list, finally they've recorded it. Quite proggy, distorted vocals, little trippy guitar and xylophone-ish breaks, which get a bit Jethro Tull and folksy at one point. Military, stomping drums and a superb harmonica, keep the pace building to a big, layered ending. I think it really is about pigeons you know, but hey, remember how cool Forrest Whitaker made pigeons look in Ghost Dog.

Rock stars (Strawbridge/Murphy) - Rich and Al on main vocals. Quiet, considered and gentle at first, sound as though they're being a bit remorseful and sad about things, but wait till their joint, angry assertion that "..rock stars don't care about time till it's all run down..." explodes out of your speakers! An unpredictable little gem to rival Blur.

Strange times (Strawbridge) - Now this is lovely, looping, deceptively simple and very, very good. Al on lead vocals. Only a brief hammond burst mid-song to keep it off major radio stations :-)

I hate this town (Strawbridge) - Gentle and beautifully phrased. Would not be a surprise on the first Prefab Sprout album. Fantastic. Passed by me with it's unassuming well-craftedness on the first listen, but it really is bloody good, with a really surprising Vangelis/Bladerunner last couple of bars. May end up being my favourite after all...

So folks, there you, my thoughts, philistine that I am. Don't forget, if you want to send your own reviews to me I'll certainly try and publish them. Similarly, make sure you go and voice your approval by adding reviews to the UK and US Amazon sites.

Now go and buy it!!! I think it may be a masterpiece.
SueM