For fans only.
Have you ever noticed that the people who moan and gripe so much about wanting to look and sound so different from the mainstream crowd quite often manage to look and sound like so many other people anyway? It is rather amusing to read quotes and statements from someone decrying the boredom and banality of humdrum life and their desire to be a unique individual force and then you see and hear them and it’s all one big yawn fest that has been done so many times before. And it’s usually been done better. Yep, all you Goths, Emos, Metal, Ska and punk kids who look down your noses and sneer at the muppets and Barry Shitpeas who like commercial music and bland-pop stuff, well, you’re not any better than the people you laugh at.
A great example of this is the Grammatics, a band from Leeds who are trying so hard to stand out from what everyone else is doing that they can't actually look at themselves long enough to see they’re a ten-a-penny head in the clouds art-school band. It must be great thinking you are cleverer and better than the general puppets in society but if you are going to walk about with that sort of attitude, it usually helps to be a bit better. Sadly, the ‘Grammatics’ album sounds every bit as annoying as Patrick Wolf or any of that ilk who have their heads so far rammed up their backsides that they need to use falsetto vocals to be heard.
‘Murderer’ is a horrific song with a lack of any redeeming features. The vocals are at their most annoying and the repetitive refrain of “he's a murder..he's a murderer” is strange as it contains no likeable melody or point of interest. It’s clear that this song feels it has something important to say but by the end of it, you would easily side with the murderer if he killed enough people to prevent this song from ever being recorded or released. Mind you, there is something good about ‘Murderer’ but that is only the fact that it isn’t the following song, ‘The Vague Archive’.
The cello is alright, that’s not a problem but the chameleon-like style of the album makes it really hard to warm to and develop an interest in and to be fair, the oh so clever lyrics are successful at putting a wall up between the band and listener. If you get past the wall to the inner conclave, you will love this act and you’ll have a great time at the gigs when you’re dressed in your finest regalia laughing at those on the outside. Have fun!