Grand Archives Albums (2)
'Keep in Mind Frankenstein'
Release Date 9/15/2009
Tracks 10
Label Sub Pop
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Grand Archives' second album reprises the sound of their 2008 debut, from the emphasis on rich vocal harmonies to the leisurely strum of their instruments. Founding member Ron Lewis left the lineup several months before this album's release, choosing to blaze a slightly livelier path with the Shins instead. Even so, the band sounds remarkably unchanged throughout Keep in Mind Frankenstein, whose track list makes room for intimate numbers as well as faster, campfire-worthy tracks. As before, Grand Archives sound best whenever the members' voices are combined, and they stack their harmonies high on songs like "Silver Amongst the Gold" and "Oslo Novelist." "Lazy Bones" stands out as perhaps the most moving number, with ambient guitar noise and keyboard drones providing a gorgeous setting for the vocals, while "Siren Echo Valley (Part 2)" abandons vocals altogether, focusing instead on the band's ability to create an instrumental track worthy of spaghetti western cinema. There are small diversions from the formula, of course -- a Theremin shows up during several tracks, and Sera Cahoone duets with Mat Brooke on the sadly beautiful "Siren Echo Valley (Part 1)" -- but Frankenstein is essentially the companion CD to 2008's Grand Archives. ~ Andrew Leahey, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Mat Brooke bowed out of Band of Horses in 2006, bringing his 11-year run with the various members of Carissa's Wierd to a close. Left to his own devices for the first time since 1995, Brooke replaced the crescendos and ringing guitars of Band of Horses with the sun-baked sounds of his follow-up project, Grand Archives. The new band is still indebted to the West Coast, but while BOH's Everything All the Time took its cues from Neil Young and Brian Wilson, Grand Archives tips a hat to David Crosby and the Mamas & the Papas. "A Setting Sun" bounces with pedal steel guitar riffs and a breezy chorus, while cameos from violinist Sarah Standord and the soft-voiced Jenn Ghetto (Brooke's co-founder in Carissa's Wierd) turn "Swan Matches" into a gauzy rainy-day ballad. The group's strongest asset is its vocal strength, with four of the five members offering up their voices in thick harmony. Taken alone, Brooke's singing is perhaps a bit too smooth, his tone straightforward and his passion understated. Adding harmonies from Curtis Hall, Ron Lewis, and Jeff Montano helps to thicken the melody, and Grand Archives revolves around the strong singalong hooks that turn this debut into a soft rock record for the indie crowd. The only misstep is "The Crime Window," whose heavy-handed melodies are shouted by multiple bandmates in a manner that's meant to be exuberant, but instead comes across as out of place and somewhat jarring. It's a song that Arcade Fire or Broken Social Scene could really tear into, but Grand Archives sound much better when they're belying their name, sacrificing the grand for the warmly intimate. ~ Andrew Leahey, All Music Guide
