The We Love Sounds lineup is certainly full of quality indie/dance crossover acts – think The Whip, The Bravery and !!!. But London’s Grand National definitely stand out from the pack, and are arguably the pick of the bunch. Bursting onto the scene in ’04 with their debut album Kicking the National Habit (with its lead single Talk Amongst Yourselves remixed to great success by Sasha on his Involver album), Grand National’s approach to the whole electronic/rock paradigm is just a little different – rather than bashing you over the head with big electro basslines contrasted with chunky guitar riffs, subtlety is the order of the day here. At the core it’s introspective indie rock peppered with sly (but affecting) references to depression and melancholy, but founding members Rupert Lyddon and Lawrence Rudd take it that extra mile in the studio by adding the layers of textured electronic sound. And as any of the Grand National fans around the world will tell you, the results are rather special.
The band’s sophomore album A Drink and a Quick Decision dropped late last year to a muted response in some quarters, but that’s only because Lyddon and Rudd chose to walk even further down the ‘subtlety’ path – it’s less immediate than Kicking the National Habit, but once you give it a few listens and let it seep in, the emotional impact is just as strong. And the duality of Grand National is also just as pronounced – the breezy choruses sung in tune with moody subject matters, and the strum of their guitars also echoing the patter of a synth or the rattling of a drum machine.
ITM’s Angus Paterson talks to the band about the Grand National experience.
Catch Grand National when they tour with the We Love Sounds festival…
Jun 6 – Oxford Art Factory, Perth
Jun 7 – We Love Sounds, Melbourne
Jun 8 – We Love Sounds, Sydney
And check out the clip for the band’s single By The Time I get Home...
