Quick Before it Melts

Monday 24 November 2008

Taking arms against a sea of troubling times

Since American Thanksgiving is now days away, I guess it’s about time I start seriously thinking about what the QBiM Best-Of-2008 lists will look like (and more importantly, what they’ll sound like).  Every year when December rolls around I find myself in a bit of a dilemma, because I have to leave off a lot of music that soundtracked my year since it didn’t actually get released in the calendar year.  My musical universe isn’t limited to orbits around the latest and greatest; whether it’s an older, more mature artist from years gone by, or a fresh-faced ambitious upstart from the previous year that managed to fly under the radar, I inevitably end up getting passionate about artists who technically don’t make the cut when it comes to my year-end lists restrictions.  If I could be completely fair, open and honest with my readers, along with Sigur Rós and Elbow, Dean Wareham and his work with Galaxie 500, Luna, and his wife Britta Phillips would be at the top of my 2008 list.

My current state of Luna love is what made me prick up my ears when word of NYC super-group Gramercy Arms came through my inbox, as the email clearly stated the band was comprised of current and former members of Guided By Voices, Dead Air, The Damnbuilders, and Luna.  A spin over to the band’s sparse yet informative official page reveals that Gramercy Arms “is an ever (r)evolving collective band project of New York-based artists.”  For their debut self-titled album, Rainy Orteca, Dave Derby, Kevin March, Sean Eden, Hilken Mancini form the band’s core, with featured performances by the likes of Sarah Silverman, Lloyd Cole, and Joan Wasser.  A late entry they may be in the field vying for props at the end of 2008, Gramercy Arms may just swoop down and steal my heart along with a coveted spot in the QBiM favourites list.

This is the sunniest, grooviest West coast-inspired pop ever made by a group of East coast indie darlings.  You’ll hear The Modern Lovers, Teenage Fanclub, Big Star, The Byrds, and even some Velvet Underground in the mix. As each successive track ends, you’ll ask yourself, “Can it get any better?”, to which Gramercy Arms answers “Yes, it can,” with the intro of the next song.  Fabulous, fabulous, FAB-YOU-LICIOUS.

Gramercy Arms is released by Cheap Lullaby Records, and for the week leading up to Thanksgiving, the entire Cheap Lullaby catalogue will be available for download as part of AmieStreet.com‘s Download to Make a Difference Campaign. When you click here and buy music from Cheap Lullaby artists at their regular prices, Amie Street will make a donation equal to 50% of sales to the Food Bank For New York City.

MP3: Gramercy Arms “Automatic”
MP3: Gramercy Arms “Looking at the Sun”
Video: Gramercy Arms “Shining Bright (Dead Air Remix)”
Myspace: Gramercy Arms
Buy: Gramercy Arms at Insound | Amazon | iTunes

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by J. Di Gioia | Comments Off

This entry was posted on Monday, November 24th, 2008 at 12:00 pm and is filed under MP3, ViDEO. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.