GRAMERCY ARMS "Gramercy Arms"
2008（REVEAL） ￥1,890(taxin)
Guided By Voices、Luna、Joan As Police Woman、Fuzzy、Too Much Joyといった90年代の名パワーポップバンドのメンバーが終結したオールスターバンド！参加アーティストも豪華、Sarah Silverman、Lloyd Cole、Nada Surf、Shudder To Think、Eve's PlumなどNew Yorkで活動する連中が楽しみぬいて作ったんだろうとワクワクする。メンバー個人が持っているパワーポップ的要素や70sなメロディーをバックグラウンドに自由な形でレコードに納めたポップアルバムで、全曲モンドで耳に優しくやはり良い曲を書くというしっかりとした暗黙のルールにのっとっているのでクオリティーも完璧。これほど良い面子があつまるとL.E.OのNYバンド版？みたいな、そんな楽しさもある。なんと当ディストロには特別に紙製コースターと大判ステッカーを付けてくれてます！！！
Track Lisiting:
1 Already There
2 Care Free
3 This Place
4 Adrenaline
5 No Man's Land
6 New Begginings
7 Chemicals
8 Hopeless
9 Your Love
10 Unique
11 Everyday
MEMBER
SITE
OFFICIAL: www.gramercyarms.co.uk/
MYSPACE: www.myspace.com/gramercyarms
BIO
Guided By Voices、Luna、Joan as Police Woman、Dead Air、The Dambuilders、Fuzzy、Too Much JoyのメンバーなどNYのポップ・オールスターが終結したスーパーグループ。参加アーティストもSarah Silverman、Lloyd Cole、Nada Surf、Shudder To Think、Eve's Plumなど大変なことに。
INFLUENCES
Teenage Fanclub, Matthew Sweet, Big Star, Cheap Trick
REVIEW
From the Guardian (UK): "A West Coast pop group with East Coast sensibilities" runs the blurb, but that's arse about tit - they're an East Coast band dreaming of LA freeways and Bel Air pool parties. They've got one song called Looking at the Sun featuring ba-ba-bas, handclaps and harmonies that is pure Simon & Garfunkel, those other New York boys pining for better weather. Another tune, Wander On, is the Modern Lovers in a mellow mood, drone-rock at 18rpm with a summer sheen. Shining Bright, if anything in the New York pantheon, has the casual gait of Mink De Ville's novelty new-wave hit from 1978, Spanish Stroll, while Since Last September, despite the references to Television's Marquee Moon, sounds like a less fucked-up Big Star - Teenage Fanclub, in other words.
They're an indie supergroup, you should know that. That's by way of a warning because supergroups - groups comprising members of other, at least semi-known, groups - are usually crap. This supergroup are good, often very good. Based in NYC, they include musicians - and the lineup will vary from project to project - from such acclaimed indie outfits as Guided By Voices, Luna, Joan As Police Woman and the Dambuilders. As if that wasn't stellar enough for you, their self-titled debut album features guest performances from brilliant US comedienne Sarah Silverman, Lloyd Cole (who's neither American nor a lady but can be quite good) and Joan "As Police Woman" Wasser as well as present and former members of Nada Surf, the Pernice Brothers and Shudder to Think. Somehow, all these arty New Yorkers with giant egos got together in a room and neither mayhem nor self-indulgent jam sessions ensued. Instead, gorgeous conventional songcraft and sun-kissed vocals ensued: laidback power pop, if that's not a contradiction in terms.
