Grand Archives - Keep in Mind Frankenstein (ALBUM REVIEW)
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
Written by Adam Simpson
This is Grand Archives 2nd Album from the band from Seattle, who formed in 2007, as the Archives. They are an American Indie Rock band made up of Mat Brooke, Curtis Hall and Jeff Montano.
Keep In Mind Frankenstein is a melodic, soft album mixing gentle music with soft airy vocals. There are hints of country and western and hints of 70’s American rock within this undramatic and unexciting medley of well played, well sung, easy to listen to tracks, which are overall, certainly not bad, but certainly not great.
Topsy’s Revenge starts the album with gently played instruments and a nice accordion accompaniment. The lyrics are emotive and sung gently but there is no real imagination or excitement.
Witchy Park/Tomorrow Will (Take Care Of Itself) is a nice track, happy and upbeat. The backing vocals and harmonies lift the song and the well played acoustic instruments make this a pleasurable track to listen to.
Silver Amongst The Gold is again melodic and pleasing on the ear, the use of electric guitar and backing vocals is nice, but lacking any real depth.
Oslo Novelist is well written and fairly catchy. The additional musical instruments used on this track make a nice difference and the guitar playing is good, but overall nothing to write home about.
Lazy Bones has a nice airy sound; there is a good distance between the warped instruments and plodding vocals. The title does sum the track up though as it is a plodding track which never seems to progress.
Siren Echo Valley (Part1) is very melodic and the backing vocals echo behind the lead very nicely indeed. A short and pleasant track.
Left For All The Strays begins with gentle string plucking and the blowing of a harmonica, not dissimilar in sound to a Bob Dylan record, unfortunately though the lyrical accomplishments of Dylan do not rub off here and it is another, ok but uninspiring track.
Dig That Crazy Grave has a country and western groove and high vocals. It is definitely a song for American fans but not one for my pallet unfortunately.
Siren Echo Valley (Part2) is an instrumental which shows off the group’s musical talent but sounds dated.
Willoughby is probably the best track on the album, nice deep piano keys and strong vocals produce a rich sound which for the first time sounds like it has required some genuine effort and imagination.
The album is OK. Nothing really grabs my attention, nor upsets me too much. The sound is a bit old hat and nothing we have not heard before. Fans of Band Of Horses, to which the band owe their roots will no doubt enjoy this and anyone who enjoys soft, mellow rock, should probably give it a listen to. But for all its musical and vocal merits I cannot say it is anything other than average.
Stereoboard Rating: 5/10
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
We don't run any advertising! Our editorial content is solely funded by lovely people like yourself using Stereoboard's listings when buying tickets for live events. To keep supporting us, next time you're looking for concert, festival, sport or theatre tickets, please search for "Stereoboard". It costs you nothing, you may find a better price than the usual outlets, and save yourself from waiting in an endless queue on Friday mornings as we list ALL available sellers!
