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Music Review of the Grand Archives by Grand Archives

“Grand Archives” are an American five-piece indie band from Seattle, Washington. They are Mat Brooke (Vocals, Guitar and Harmonica), Ron Lewis (Guitar, Piano and Organ), Jeff Montano (Bass), Curtis Hall (Drums) and Thomas Wright (Guitar). Their main music genres are indie rock and folk rock. Before they were known as Grand Archives, according to Three Imaginary Girls, they called themselves Archives and Mat Brooke was a former bandmate of Carissa’s Wierd and Band of Horses.

The Grand Archives opens with the soothing and somewhat cute “Torn Blue Foam Couch”. It’s more like a pop rock track where Mat sings effortlessly accompanied by the orchestra-like music. As always, Torn Blue Foam Couch starts off by climbing up stairs and building up tempo. It ends very beautifully where by all the instruments come together, just like an orchestra performance. A down-to-earth opener!

The swaying harmonica and whistling at the beginning of “Miniature Birds” is really good. It just reminds me of my childhood. The music on this track is sunny and jovial, you’d move your head from side to side listening to Miniature Birds. Grand Archives also make an impact on this track’s chorus where Mat goes, “It didn’t take that long…” and the rest of the band just come up with the beautiful music, especially the keyboard. And at times, they join the singing with Mat. Another notable mention is the French horn and trombone used in this track, it just completes this track!

“Swan Matches” is a slow ballad that features Jen Ghetto as guest appearance. When Jen comes in, Mat and her do a duet, “And I remember how fast we ran, i remember how fast we ran, we flew over fences, we dodged all the moving cars, and the dry Arizona faces, the dry Arizona faces…” The guitar on this track is , i can feel that Grand Archives just strum and pluck the guitar according to their music instinct, totally without a music sheet. Total adult folk getaway.

“Index Moon” is another ballad that sees Mat sings passionately. The guitar by Grand Archives on this track is slow and at times draggy. When it comes to the verses, the music just get into a softer tone. When it’s the chorus, the music just comes alive in the background with Mat’s singing. If you listen carefully, you would find there’s a subtle voice in the background that goes, “Woo… Hoo…”. Index Moon is such a good track, it’s slow, but it’ll not hold you long enough till you get bored waiting for the chorus to come. Just lovely. Try it!

“George Kaminski” if i’m not mistaken, is one of the characters that appears in Japanese manga and anime Case Closed, also known as Detective Conan. This track is pure acoustic, with the guitar and harmonica playing along, Mat will just sing along. Throughout this track, it’s hard to grab the lyrics that Mat sings, i have to look at the lyrics if i were to understand the words. George Kaminski also sounds sad at times through the voice of Mat. This could be the only track that turns out to be the best if performed in an unplugged jamming session.

“A Setting Sun” can be regarded as the best track off The Grand Archives. If you look at the lyrics, it’s very smart written, “Could you be quick or be, could you be quick or be tired, the tock, the tick of it, atop the funeral pyre, we’re in the thick of it, so bite the brick of it all…” Now we all can see the flow of the lyrics, the rhyme of the words that Grand Archives use. And throughout A Setting Sun, you wouldn’t be surprised if you find yourself enjoying this song and moving your head from side to side as an act of appreciation to the music crafted by Grand Archives. Really amazing stuff here!

“Breezy No Breezy” is just pure instrumental. It sounds sort of creepy yet weird. The guitar and horn stand out the most here. Breezy No Breezy also sounds mysterious, it can be used as background music in a movie, especially in a part where a person is trying to solve a mystery or puzzle in a funny way. Just very cute.

“Sleepdriving” is driving slowly. In the chorus, there’s a repetition of the lyrics where Mat sings after the backing vocals by the rest of Grand Archives. It’s like a trailing way of singing and the effect of it is quite significant, creating an echoic wall of sound. When the break comes along, violin can be heard as Mat sings in little phrases. And as the end draws closer, the whole song got louder and the whole Grand Archives join in the fun and sing along side Mat. What this track has is the quality of a slow burner, which is like “Run” of Snow Patrol. It’ll burn you up slowly, and of course softly.

The title of “Louis Riel” is also the name of a Canadian Politician who founded the province Manitoba and was the leader of the Canadian Prairies. This track is ought to be sad, but it sounds really happy and cheerful. The organ is really pumping and gets the listener going on. When the chorus comes, Grand Archives are supposed to tell a long story, but they just go with, “Ba, da……” Sera Cahoone also appears briefly on this track. Such a happy track here!

“The Crime Window” is the crunchiest track on The Grand Archives. You can feel as if there were a group of choir singing together with Grand Archives. Along with the horn, the singing was really energetic and powerful! This is the song that can be the anthem for Grand Archives’ concert. It’ll get the crowd and their fans dancing and singing together, “Sweet jolly jammers and a dugan charge, burning down the prarie on a victory barge…” It wouldn’t be long if you realize you’re tired by the end of this song. Lovely entertaining!

“Orange Juice” is a short and sweet track. Just a nice song to perform in a warm pub or bar. It’s light and cute with the trombone playing in the background. What a sweet way to end the album, sounds like Grand Archives are closing the album on a happy note.

Stand-Out Tracks (My Picks): Torn Blue Foam Couch, Miniature Birds, Index Moon, A Setting Sun, Louis Riel, The Crime Window and Orange Juice.

Cheers!
Darren Tan
Indiesurf.com

About the Author

Darren Tan is a huge avid fan of indie music, indie bands and indie artists. Since he was 17 years old, he started to fall in love with the indie music scene. It was a total turning point in his life for him as he no longer look at the indie music industry the same since.

With Indiesurf.com he wants to share his thoughts, comments, reviews and opinions on the latest (and past/old) indie music, indie bands and indie artists with the world and you. You are also invited to share your views as well, so he'll see you at Indiesurf.com.

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