Gratis – Demo

Gratis – Demo / 2004 Self-Released / 2 Tracks / http://www.musicofgratis.com / [email protected] / Reviewed 05 January 2005

I always feel bad reviewing 2 song demos, because two songs usually can’t do much besides showcase two of the facets of a band. However, Gratis is like Upsilon Acrux in the sense that they both do an open-ended, all-encompassing style of psychedelic rock. Starting off their disc with “Means & Ends”, Gratis is helped along their way by a very able and laissez faire style of mastering laid down by Brett Siler. In this, every single slide along the guitar strings, every single high hat hit, is recorded equally well. The punk influence is able audible during this demo, even if the vocals are sparse at best. The simple fact is that the spirit, the punk rock lack of interest, the desire to create what they want and not listen to those voices espousing current schools of thought – is always here on this disc. The instrumentation laid down by Brett, Scott, Jesse, and Kelsey is some of the most solid I’ve heard – the band, while functioning as a cohesive unit, allows for each individual to step up and provide the highest virtuosity in solos and intricate arrangements.

Mixing the best of Primus, Velvet Revolver, and some of the sludge-metal (Clutch, Corrosion of Conformity), Gratis bridges the gap between brutality and beauty. The thrash-metal lines in the second track, “Tot Finder” provides another view of a band that is just an enigma to the average listener at eight minutes in on the disc. When the band gets into a groove, expect them to ride it out but have the good sense to end it and move on before they drive themselves into a rut. The band may have been only around for two years, but they conduct themselves as if they were old hands at this band thing.

Gratis is what a jam band should be – instead of the unoriginal dingleberries that hang from the corpse of the Grateful Dead and Phish, Gratis places all their influences down on the table at the onset of this disc and shows them to the audience one by one during their track, instead of the paint-by-numbers flair of all the unoriginal bands that deem themselves “jam”. When a band of this caliber comes out of a place, chances are that it will be ignored by the monoliths of the industry – places that only suck at the larger indie label’s teat – like Pitchfork. Check Gratis out, and maybe they will finally get more of the recognition they deserve.

Top Track: Means & Ends

Rating: 7.3/10