Gram Rabbit – Cultivation / 2006 Stinky / 12 Tracks / http://www.gramrabbit.com / http://www.stinkyrecords.com / Reviewed 15 March 2006

The slithering, sultry guitar/drum dynamic that starts off “Cultivation” during “Waiting In The Kountry” ties together disparate elements of music, whether it be Primus, Frank Zappa or even the style of music that would be perfect on the soundtracks for “El Mariachi” or “Natural Born Killers”. The reason why this fusion of styles work is because of the brilliant instrumentation and production that demarcates Gram Rabbit as different from many of the other bands currently on the market. It only takes a minute for Gram Rabbit to completely change their tune, as “Bloody Bunnies (Superficiality)” takes the role of a cheerleading style clap-fest that is backed up by a straight-forward rock guitar riff.

Throw in some synthesizer lines and one has something that is more of a mixture of Drowning Pool and the Boomtang Boys than anything. It is still that vague “country” sound of Gram Rabbit that the band comes back to time and time again during “Cultivation” as “Angel Song” mixes it with a Simon & Garfunkel type of disaffected, drowsy vocal styling. However different the styles are during “Cultivation”, the fact is that each of the songs here could make it onto their respective genre’s radio station; “Charlie’s Kids” is the first track that really shatters any direct comparison with a genre. For example, there is a heavy tie here between the synthesizer and the lead vocals on the track and for the vast majority of the track as there is little else to create an overarching sound.

However Spartan that the track may be, Gram Rabbit does a hell of job creating a creepy, if not downright scary deadpan sound that is a hallmark of the disc. Later tracks like “Paper Heart” do much of the same thing, with little besides the synthesizer pulling the weight for the act. The facts are in; Gram Rabbit may be one of the most genuinely new and compelling bands of the year as their failure to commit to any one brand of music makes for a disc that is new to everyone who pops it in their player. While it is new, the idea here is that each of the tracks has some tie to the popular music environment; individuals may not hear any of these tracks on popular radio, but individuals need not only sit their morose while listening to this album. Offbeat but ultimately fun, Gram Rabbit’s “Cultivation” seems to be a muted psychedelia for the next century.

Top Tracks: Charlie’s Kid, Slopoke

Rating: 6.3/10

[JMcQ]