Robbers On High Street : Grand Animals

<img src="http://www.qromag.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/robbersonhighstreetgrand.jpg" alt=" " />New York throwback rockers fill their second album with wonderfully varied, yet cohesive, stories told with stylish sophistication and youthful charm. ...
8.3 New Line
2007 

 New York throwback rockers fill their second album with wonderfully varied, yet cohesive, stories told with stylish sophistication and youthful charm. On Grand Animals, the three-piece assembles slick elements of 60’s ballads, 70’s grooves, and modern, urban jams into a well-oiled sound that speeds, coasts, and corners tightly.  The album flows smoothly from top to bottom while remaining cool, complicated, and unavoidably catchy.

What makes Grand Animals stand out isn’t that it crosses through old and new rock schools, but that it does it without misstepping.   From the animated chime of the organ that opens the album on "Across Your Knee" to the gentle last line of the grandiose finish on "Keys To the Century", the album is one of those sit-back-and-enjoy collections of high-class songwriting.  "Across Your Knee" interplays guitar and organ throughout its cheeky refrain and singer Ben Trokan’s captivating vocals and acoustic guitar drive the song into a lush orchestral flourish.  The next track, "The Fatalist" shifts the mix with a sharp guitar and somersaulting bass pushing the song into a steamy jam.  "Crown Victoria" lightens the load with a hopping rhythm and atmosphere of a 60’s primetime TV performance.  The piano ballad, "The Ramp", intersperses drums and melodica with Trokan’s dark, but lovable, tale of near-death injury.  Only a third of the way through the album, the band shows off four distinctly affecting moods.  

One intruiging facet of the album is the meshing of maturity and youth.  Psychedelic lounge grooves are mixed into "Kick ‘Em In the Shins", after Trokan sings "He’s got some good advice for all us kids/Don’t you work too hard and kick ’em in the shins".  The buried-track-of-the-year, "Married Young", has a bewitching rapid-fire guitar, pleading vocals, and slick High Noon vibe that provides a great spike of energy halfway through.  "Your Phantom Walks The Hall" is a haunting serenade that belies the band’s age by at least a decade.  

The last two tracks, "Guard At Your Heel" and "Keys To the Century", round Grand Animals out with truly savvy style.  The former, a Sgt.-Pepper-meets-The-Kinks dirge, shows off another side of their all-around musical skill and the piano-driven melody on the latter swells with emotion as strings, guitars, and xylophones combine in a poignant finish.  

This album won’t shock the way you think about rock music, but reaffirm a lot of things that you love it for.  Versatile moods, clever arrangements, and infectious tunes make Grand Animals a solid listen start to finish.  It charms, envigorates, and entertains while making you think, dance, and even dream a little.  It’s everything rock is based on.

Categories
Album Reviews
  • Anonymous
    at
  • No Comment

    Leave a Reply

    Album of the Week