Grenadier
Grenadier
Ubique Records

Indie rock with a handful of cojones. That's what Grenadier is about. Power-pop with a good heart, delivered by a powerful-threesome from DeKalb, Illinois. I was curious to check out this new disc from the Ubique label, as I really enjoyed the debut record by Grenadier, not to forget the eminent Tall Grass Captains of Greater Chicago.

Grenadier are Jeremy Heroldt on vocals, guitar, bass and keyboard, Mark Mattson (The Tall Grass Capt. himself) on guitar, backing vocals, and Craig Swafford on drums, vocals, keyboards plus assorted synthetic noises. Grenadier is, as their first album, an efficient collection of songs. Catchy songs. As I labelled 'barbed wired pop', hence they're coming from DeKalb, the birthplace of barbed wire. I mentioned some names of reference: Beatnik Filmstars, Pavement, Guided By Voices, Small/Small 23), Built To Spill. You might add Weezer, as the press sheet says. Plus some vintage glam pop. Cheap Trick meets the Sweet? You might just underline 'party' as a keyword, because this is music for party pleasure moods. With beer as a must. Their debut held 11 tracks in 37 minutes. This time there's only 8 tracks clocking in at less than 26 minutes. Neat. Great. I like albums short and to the point.

I called their debut a pleasant surprise. I'm really pleased to meet them again. The Grenadier rock is charming stuff, but it isn't rock science. Quite up-lifting, though, a perfect take-off, taking you to a perfect height. Ending with a safe landing.

Copyright © 2008 Håvard Oppøyen