Grass Widow - Past Time

After hungrily devouring their first couple of EPs, I've been recently feeling a little "widowed" by lack of new material from this wonderful San Franciscan 3 piece. All-female bands are one of my soft spots. I must be a riot grrrl disguised as some chubby bald scruffbag guy from Bradford. For some reason their propulsive rhythms, cheeky time changes & endearingly wonky harmonising gel into some of the most thrilling & vital underground rock I've heard in the past few years. They've also managed to totally transcend the constant glut of new-wavey/C86 Raincoats-y/Liliput-esque/Shop Assistants/Delta 5 style bands, the recent boom of which resulted in a sound rather too over-familiar & samey. They admit their more unique personality is down to being huge fans of old English 60s bands such as The Move & The Kinks. It also gives their dinky feline post-punk a really rich classic pop essence which combined with the incredible hooks & 3 part harmonies results in a truly great full length that compromises absolutely none of their groovesome & feral DIY sound. Phil rightly noted that they have a smidgeon of the old UK Too Pure sound in there too which could well appeal to old fans of Quickspace & the like. Subsequent discussion in the office has made me realise they've cleverly bridged the gap between early REM & Sleater-Kinney! Superb stuff as always!