New album Plastic Cough is out now via Double Double Whammy.
Who: Alex Menne – Vocals, Pat Goodwin – Guitar and Vocals, Dylan Hanwright – Guitar and Vocals, Carrie Miller – Bass and Vocals, Cam LaFlam – Drums and Vocals.
What: Alternative rock (FFO: Weezer, Big Thief, Dilly Dally)
Where: Seattle, WA.
Why: Two reasons. Lots of fun. Lots of melancholy. A hard thing to meld into one coherent package. While Seattle quintet Great Grandpa have a definite way with a Weezer-esque chorus that is essentially the size of a stadium, they can also break you with a delicate lyric and melody that cuts to the centre of everything.
‘Teen Challenge’ is an example of the fun. Possessing the major chord chug of Weezer, melodies akimbo, and a hook that is built to be sung loudly by teenagers all over the world, the track is stupid good. After me: “I can’t breathe / Would you give me something / On the off beat? / Always killin’ it.”
Then they’ll destroy you with the truth. Like on ‘Faithful’ which calls to mind the alt country of Big Thief with its laid back pace and blood letting lyrics. This one hits particularly close to home for me. I was with the most wonderful woman for a year. I didn’t cheat on her but I broke her trust and her heart. The following lines remind me to never do that to anyone ever again: “You’re looking down, down at the ground / It doesn’t matter you said sorry / it doesn’t change it at all / It doesn’t matter that you cried / How could you do this to me / how could you do this at all?”.
Great Grandpa. A great band.
Find Great Grandpa on Facebook.
Follow Overblown on Facebook and Twitter.
