Four of Arrows by Great Grandpa

One thing I love about writing these articles are the pleasant surprises I unearth in researching the bands I feature. For instance, I’ve liked Great Grandpa, the band whose sophomore album, Four of Arrows, landed at #18, for a few months now. But only today did I discover that they’re from Seattle (the city I, too, call home). If I’d given it any thought before today, I probably would have predicted this, as they have a distinctly indie-Seattle sound. Four of Arrows, the only Great Grandpa album I’ve heard, has a foundation similar to older Modest Mouse. Rough-around-the-edges production and pop rock sensibilities abound.

What really drew me to Great Grandpa, though, is the voice of lead singer Alex Menne. Her voice, loud and unrefined, cracks at the edges, evocative of Katie Crutchfield, of Waxahatchee, in her most strained moments. Beyond Menne, the heart of Great Grandpa are husband and wife Carrie and Pat Goodwin, who play bass and guitar respectively, and write the bulk of the band’s output. Together, the three of them, along with Dylan Hanwright on second guitar and Cam Laflam on drums, the quintet fills an indie-rock void in Seattle that I hadn’t realized even existed until now.

“Digger,” shown in the video above, is my favorite song on the album. The lyrics are unapproachable — more power to you if you can figure them out. But the video is another story. It’s impossible to talk about the video without revealing too much, so all I’m going to say is: watch the video in full. It will move you in ways you don’t expect, and not only because of the stellar soundtrack.

While this is only the 2nd album from Great Grandpa, I suspect the best is yet to come. Four of Arrows is a good effort, but this is a young band with lots of potential. Keep an eye out for the future.

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19. Designer by Aldous Harding
20. Norman Fucking Rockwell! by Lana Del Rey
21. Our Pathetic Age by DJ Shadow
22. Juice B Crypts by Battles
23. Pony by Orville Peck
24. Hyperspace by Beck
25. Eraserland by Strand of Oaks
26. Dogrel by Fontaines DC
27. You’re the Man by Marvin Gaye
28. Big Wows by Stealing Sheep
29. 1000 gecs by 100 gecs
30. In the Morse Code of Brake Lights by The New Pornographers
31. Radiant Dawn by Operators

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