Good lord, I wasn’t sure how many more amazing poppy gems I could take this year, but once more, I’m pleasantly surprised to find some guitar-pop ROCK HITS from these ladies. Ghosty harmonies drop in and out of this pretty little ditty titled To Where from San Francisco’s Grass Widow, which I think is an ode to a lost parent and their unknown afterlife destination. The topic’s particularly morbid, in fact their general vibes are quite serious (the term Grass Widow refers to the wife who is left behind by a parting husband, generally when they leave on a seafaring voyage), but they manage to channel a particularly vibrant feel through the morose content. The obvious comparisons to fellow girl rockers Brilliant Colours, Vivian Girls and Dum Dum Girls are there, for sure, but there’s plenty more than ’sounds kinda like these guys’ to love in To Where, a murder mystery coda leading you into the pretty (very pretty) counter-harmonies, before them guitar parts start to mess together with some right-on precision, jumping in and out of some of the better surf riffs of late. There’s quite a bit in here for a 2-minute track, but their penchant for timing and melody see To Where finish as a super sublime piece of bliss. Clean, precise, catchy and surprisingly dark.
Everythings a bit more muted (and brief) in Black Hole, the more morbid qualities in their lyricism affecting the musical side of things. It’s still well worth your time though, its starkly simple, but unfortunately gets some cease-and-desist notice from the fun fairy before there’s any chance to build too much momenteum. Their debut album sold out in April, but apparently there’s a 12″ on Brooklyn label Captured Tracks which was recorded before then which is still around (somehow I doubt that though). In any case, here’s some Grass Widow for your pleasure.
