Great Grandpa forges its own path
written by Ben Salmon
When you’re a rock band from Seattle that uses heavily distorted guitars, people will almost certainly use the word “grunge” to describe your sound.
For Great Grandpa, that’s only part of the equation. “For a long time we’ve claimed the ‘grunge-pop-snack-rock’ identity,” the quintet said, “We feel like this description still paints a picture of what you might be getting yourself into by listening to [us].”
Great Grandpa’s Sparkling Collision
They’re right. Great Grandpa’s new album, Plastic Cough, is a delightful collision of sparkling melodies, prickly guitars and the chunky, churning low end of the band’s flanneled forebears. The sweet ‘n’ sour sound of songs like “Teen Challenge” and “Fade” place Great Grandpa credibly alongside other up-and-coming pop-rock bands with a ’90s vibe, like Speedy Ortiz, Charly Bliss and Rozwell Kid.
In fact, Great Grandpa claims more inspiration from their contemporaries than from any bygone era.
“Most of us hadn’t even listened to Pavement until after people started comparing us [to them],” the band said. “Now it’s become a funny game of ‘How many ’90s bands that we’ve never heard will a journalist name-drop in their review?’”
Next read about Mariachi Huenachi.
Check out Ben Salmon’s review of Pickwick.
