Seattle Subsonic

Yule Benefit From Seeing Grand Archives

December 16th, 2008

KEXP hosted it’s 6th Annual Yule Benefit this past weekend at Neumos, with Grand Archives headlining the Friday show after openers the Dutchess and the Duke and Austin band Shearwater entertained the frigid audience. This was the third time I’d seen the alt-country-slash-guitar-pop Seattle quintet, and not only have they become a more cohesive band in the past twelve months, but they’ve expanded upon their current catalogue (their slightly under-the-radar debut LP came out in February) with a bright menagerie of shimmering new songs. The Grand Archives, a refreshingly honest and rustic record, has seen significant time in my CD player this year, and hearing the band collectively belt out their touching tunes on this cold December night was awesomely awesome.

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Building upon his underground success with Carissa’s Wierd and the “mainstream” blow-up of the first Band of Horses record, it seems band leader and songwriter Mat Brooke (who also owns and operates the Redwood tavern) has taken his spirited and pastoral vision to a comfortable height of success. I’ve no doubt The Grand Archives will end up a 2008 favorite of many for its decidedly Pacific Northwest imagery (“Index Moon”, “Sleepdriving”), its offbeat and retrospective take on peculiar tales (“George Kaminski”, “Louis Riel”), its captivating and baroque group-effort harmonies (“Miniature Birds”, “A Setting Sun”) and its rowdy, sing-along pop illuminations (“The Crime Window”, “Torn Blue Foam Couch”). Brooke’s voice and pensive attitude even recall the late great Elliot Smith, which should pique any Pac NW music fan’s ears.

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Their set on this night included four new cuts, two bookending the performance and two mixed in between. All four, if I recall, were pretty upbeat. Every song from their record, minus the instrumental “Breezy No Breezy”, was played. Jenn Ghetto showed up to sing her duet part for the wistful splendor of “Swan Matches”. The band played confidently and loosely, returning for a 3-song encore that included Brooke alone on “Louis Riel”.

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I finally was able to see ramshackle duo the Dutchess and the Duke after months of missing their well-received shows, and they were a perfect fit for this night. Their Stones and Beatles-inspired 60s revivalist rock is stirring, sobering, saucy and sassy, with a palpable chemistry between Jesse Lortz and Kim Morrison. Of course, the band’s percussionist definitely has his look down. If you haven’t given their debut, She’s the Dutchess, He’s the Duke, a spin, consider this your recommendation.

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[A note on the second band, Shearwater. Honestly, I wasn't really into it. Technically, I suppose they were sound, and their drummer/DIY string artist looked like a hippie version of Dog the Bounty Hunter and went by the name of Thor. But aside from those "accolades", their overly-emo, intellectual orchestra rock didn't tune my senses. Jonathan Meiburg's quasi-Gaelic warble was just a touch too much.]