Brace yourself or some Infectious hooks and catchy choruses as Australian four piece indie pop band The Griswolds bring a little sunshine to our shores this Spring. These four boys have all the youthful exuberance of Vampire Weekend, combined with the cool nonchalance of The Strokes.
Their debut album ‘Be Impressive’ has already smashed the US, with their current single ‘Beware the dog’ charting on itunes alternative chart in the top 5 and the Heatseeker charts top 10, with 6 million streams worldwide so far and finishing in the top 3 of The Spotify emerge campaign.
The band formed when Christopher Whitehall (vocals/guitar) challenged his sometime drinking buddy Daniel Duque-Perez (guitar/synth), to write a riff on the spot. That rift morphed into their first single, swiftly followed by their debut EP that launched the band to a worldwide audience. Settling on their name (thanks to a passing comment about National Lampoon’s Family Vacation), the band were suddenly playing shows with San Cisco, Last Dinosaurs and touring Australia to ever-increasing crowds. After forays to the UK and US, the band; Chris, Dan, bassist Tim John and drummer Lachlan West were itching to record their debut album, signing with American super-indie Wind-Up Records.
The album was written in two parts, on a retreat at a hippie meditation cabin just outside of Sydney and at Quad Studios in the thick of hedonistic New York, recorded in Hobby Shop studios LA with producer Tony Hoffer (Beck, Foster the People, M83). Tracks like; ‘If You Wanna Stay’, ‘16 Years’ and ‘Right on Track’ harness some striking maturity in the bands song writing, with synths and keys playing a prominent role. ‘Be Impressive’ is about growing up, finding your own path and dealing with the challenges that presents. It’s about love and loss; spontaneous happiness and devastating sadness. It covers a wide emotional spectrum; like the soundtrack to a crazy road trip.
For Sydney based party starters The Griswolds, the mantra “Be Impressive” is a fantastically simple statement of intent. These eleven shimmering, anthemic tracks are that and more. ‘Be Impressive’ isn’t just an electronic – indie-rock record you can dance to; it’s a record that’ll have you dancing with sheer joy.
“We’re all about melodies, big hooks, choruses you want to singalong to and having lots of fun,” grins Chris. “That’s what this band, and this album, is all about.”
LISTEN TO CURRENT SINGLE: ‘IF YOU WANNA STAY’
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/163820861″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
The Griswolds will be touring the album throughout the UK and Europe this Spring.
May 16, 2015 Amsterdam, The Netherlands London Calling Festival
May 18, 2015 Paris, France Le Batofar
May 19, 2015 London, United Kingdom The Stillery
May 22, 2015 Manchester, United Kingdom Dot to Dot Festival
May 22, 2015 London, United Kingdom Club NME
May 23, 2015 Bristol, United Kingdom Dot to Dot Festival
May 24, 2015 Nottingham, United Kingdom Dot to Dot Festival
May 24, 2015 Liverpool, United Kingdom Sound City Festival
Be the first to comment