Grant Lee Phillips - Strangelet (2007)
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Grant Lee just released his 5 solo (4th of original music) and this release should make any Grant Lee Buffalo/Grant Lee Phillips fan proud. The electric guitars are back along with a breath of fresh air. The cd opens with "Runaway" a song that could have easily appeared on a GLB record. The moodiness of the vocals and fuzzed out drums/guitars are a complete 180 from tracks off of Virginia Creeper. Grant does slow it down but instead of going straight acoustic, he adds some strings, a ukulele and country twang. Speaking of the twang, track 4 "Hidden Hand" is full of it and a new direction for Grant. You would think his whispering vocals wouldn't mix with a straight up country beat but I was suprised as to how well they blend. In the past Grant's solo cds tended to keep a style throughout but this one has songs bouncing all over the map. This isn't to say that Grant has lost focus, if anything it shows you influences and what he is capable of. I feel like this is my favorite Grant Lee solo to date, it has all the elements you love from his music along with a new few directions. As of now there are no Detroit dates but his website says to stay tuned.
Rating: 9/10
http://www.grantleephillips.com/
You can hear a few other tracks on Grant Lee's myspace page.
http://www.myspace.com/grantleephillips
Posted by mardenhill 4/15/2007 10:33:00 AM
Labels: Music
