Grand Archives and S – concert review

Oslo Novelist – Grand Archives
I Love You, Too – S

Carissa’s Wierd are no more, but this is just about the next best thing. Grand Archives probably will never make my heart race in quite the same way that it did when I first heard You Should Be At Home Here, but they are a mighty fine band. Add in an opening performance from Jenn Ghetto as S, and you’ve got almost the whole gang back together.

Ghetto has two records – the first of which Sadstyle is a lo-fi classic that thankfully has just been re-issued by Aviation Records – but most of the set was new material, which sounded great. I talked to her briefly after the show and she said a new record is in the works, release date indeterminate. Which is super exciting. Her guitar-playing is as good as ever and her voice is even more amazing – at times pure and deep, but at crucial moments catching and breaking with the kind of pathos that puts your heart in your throat.

The Grand Archives part of the show was also fantastic. Where Carissa’s Wierd sometimes translated a bit awkwardly into a live environment (particularly if the audience wasn’t as rapt as me), Grand Archives are the opposite. All of my minor complaints about the most recent album – that it is a little languid and too low-key for its own good – were absolutely wiped away by the live show. The vitality of the songs was laid bare, the deep emotion and the joyfullness made clear.

Coming through headphones and speakers, some of these songs can feel a little bit distant. But having the band rocking out just a few feet in front of me gave everything a piercing beauty and intense closeness. When they got to that huge, explosive moment in “Torn Blue Foam Couch” it was almost theological.

If you have any doubts about this band, check them out live. You won’t regret it.

Old posts about S, Grand Archives, and Carissa’s Wierd.