TAKE REFUGE IN CLEAN LIVING

Grails is a spacey instrumental rock band four piece from the US, they have been writing music for quite a while, but only made it big in the post rock world when they released 2007's Burning off impurities. Since then the band has been thrown into underground stardom, and has been pumping out music like crazy. Well I don't have burning off impurities, much less anything else they've ever made behind this one, and their most recent album Doomsdayers Holiday. Both albums are fine releases, and are both a little different...

This album take refuge in clean living is much more laid back, and is incredibly rooted in eastern music, with sitars, Indian song structures, and an almost annoying use of the harmonic scale. All of this is very Beatles-esque, as if they were trying to describe a really really chilled acid trip. While Doomsdayers holiday is much heavier, the songs are a little less consistent than on Take Refuge In Clean Living. This one flows nicely from song to song, and is incredibly relaxing, one of my recent favorites to sleep to considering the lack of climaxes, and how the tension never really builds, You just let the eastern vibes take you away, that is until you get to the title track. The song take refuge is sadly one of the only notable songs on the album, one you can really get your toe tapping to, one that really gets the juices pumping. The lead guitar player just plays this easy simple riff, and then the second guitar player plays something over that, and then the excellent drummer starts doing entire measure long fills (Note the complete restriction of riding on anything but the hi hat, excellent self control), really this song does actually remind me of how prog rock used to make me feel back in the day.

A very solid album, but there really is either a big lack of energy, or a big lack of creativity that's keeping me from bragging about this band too much. True I don't have their other albums, so I'm sending you a completely unbiased review of a band who seem to have already released an incredible album, and maybe this one is just a more chilled out follow up to it. Whatever it is, it's a good album, but nothing to shake a stick at. 3 stars.