Perhaps I am a Sebastien Grainger groupie. This past Tuesday marked the release of Sebastien Grainger and The Mountains American Names EP. After seeing them perform three times now, it is due time that the band finally has released some material. Although the four-song EP includes two tracks I have heard in different forms over the past year and are nothing new ("American Names" and "Ways to come home"), it is nice to hear clean recordings of the two.
Had Grainger not been the heart and soul (and voice and lyricist) of Death From Above 1979, I am not so sure his new project would be such a success (not to suggest that it is even that big a success right now). The current "hip" music scene is abuzz with indie-dance bands that lean more towards either nu-disco or club-worthy dance music. That being said, it is difficult for a more traditional straight-forward rock and roll band to find a niche market to appeal to. Grainger's new band is quite a stretch from the fast-paced dance-punk of DFA1979 and certainly will not appeal to many of the former band's fans. Personally, I find them to be a breath of fresh air from the shoe-gazing arrogance of the current hipster scene. Gazing at your shoes during a song used to be an innocent act for slightly shy and slightly awkward "indie" kids in the early 90s, not an opportunity to look at your limited edition high-tops.
An excellent point that was made by a fellow Grainger groupie this past Monday night at the CD release at the Horseshoe was that with his neatly cropped brown hair, mustache, and all white ensemble, Grainger is beginning to look like Freddy Mercury these days. The photo above does not illustrate this well, but believe me, the comment was an apt one. It is rare that I actually agree with what someone shouts out at a concert ("Seven Yearrrrs").
