It’s been four years between albums for Adelaide’s Grenadiers, but they’re back with a furious passion, and with a title likeSummerthey know exactly where they want to be.
The whole record toes a line between standard summertime anthems and dark punk songs. Even the seagulls at the start of the album remind you of summer as much as they remind you of vultures circling overhead.
Summer is an album that’s loud from start to finish, and Grenadiers like it that way. The three-piece has no problem creating plenty of noise, with each song featuring visceral attacks of instrumentation in the vein of The Bronx, The Peep Tempel and Queens of the Stone Age. Even when the songs are quiet, they still have an intense energy to them, going from a whisper one second to a full-on, over-the-top guitar solo the next (‘Nothing On’).
The band also makes great use of backup vocals, adding extra depth to songs like the sultry ‘Stay Inside’, which lets singer/guitarist Jesse Coulter show off his singing chops over some groovy and catchy guitar lines.
Fast-paced and in your face, this is an ideal summer soundtrack with a seedy underbelly.
3.5/5.
