BRITAINS MOST UNDERRATED BAND....OF ALL TIME....EVER !!!!!!!!!

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Well that's probaly the biggest overstatement....ever.
Anyway I needed a more sensationalist thread title...now that i've got your attention.....

After doing a search on ILM a few days ago, I was suprised to see no mention of this truly underrated British band in any threads. For those of you who like Gram Parsons, The Byrds ,The Jayhawks, Ryan Adams, Richmond Fontaine, The Band, Neil Young and Big Star they're definately worth checking out. The group's take on country (or Americana if you like) may seem like a fairly routine homage .....but first listens can be very deceiving.
Rather than an imitation of the genre, the music is filtered through a British perspective, which evokes an America of pure fiction; like something from the golden age of cinema, where discovery lies on every road in and out of small towns...yet also leads to bittersweet heartbreak and the poetic truths of a Kerouac novel.

My enthusiasm for Grand Drive might seem over the top, but there's just something about their music which can really brighten your day (especially good for a road trip) and make you forget about the trivial stuff (work etc). I bought an Australian compilation of theirs, 'See The Morning In' about five years ago, and within a bunch of over 500 c.d's, this always stays in the top five of most listened to. I'd love to hear some more opinions on them, so here's their myspace link below. Check out the track 'A Little Like You'....hope you love them as much as I do.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=114441950

― Piano Fire (Piano Fire), Saturday, 17 February 2007 03:53 (seventeen years ago) link

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b361/tapestore/grandd.jpg
A band that elevates tortured affairs of the heart into an artform
A band that elevates tortured affairs of the heart into an artform
A band that elevates tortured affairs of the heart into an artform

― Tape Store (Tape Store), Saturday, 17 February 2007 04:01 (seventeen years ago) link

Thanks for the pic Tape Store....were you at this very intimate looking gig ?

― Piano Fire (Piano Fire), Saturday, 17 February 2007 04:14 (seventeen years ago) link

hi dere welcome to ilm

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver (hoosteen), Saturday, 17 February 2007 04:18 (seventeen years ago) link

I DON'T WANNA KNOW
I JUST DON'T WANT TO
TELL IT LIKE IT IS
http://www.emmitsburg.net/klc/deacon_charlie/images/barnhart2.jpg

― the table is the table (trees), Saturday, 17 February 2007 04:19 (seventeen years ago) link

Is this the UK Blue Rodeo?

― Servetus (Servetus), Saturday, 17 February 2007 04:34 (seventeen years ago) link

God I want to mouth off on this topic but I don't know where to begin!

― Saxby D. Elder (Saxby D. Elder), Saturday, 17 February 2007 05:37 (seventeen years ago) link

Just start from top Saxby and work your way down....i'm seriously interested though about what you dislike about grand drive.

― Piano Fire (Piano Fire), Saturday, 17 February 2007 06:12 (seventeen years ago) link

'a little like you' is really pretty. but i wish it sounded more like fleetwood mac rumours. the guitar just sounds horrible... the fretwork is just as loud as the notes. so maybe there is a VST plugin now in 2007 that can make everything sound really mean and brittle?

― friday on the porch (lfam), Saturday, 17 February 2007 07:40 (seventeen years ago) link

"This album is a classic and the first stone-cold masterpiece of the 21st century" - Sleazenation

― friday on the porch (lfam), Saturday, 17 February 2007 07:41 (seventeen years ago) link

i thought it was going to be about oasis.

― Mike McGonigal (yetimike), Saturday, 17 February 2007 22:14 (seventeen years ago) link

hah hah i have the funnies!

― Mike McGonigal (yetimike), Saturday, 17 February 2007 22:15 (seventeen years ago) link

okay, i'm gonna stop making jokes and be serious : not very inspired. It's like make any of the bands they list as influences more bland and there you have it. And it is recorded terribly.

i also wish this were about oasis. who REALLY give me the funnies.

― the table is the table (trees), Saturday, 17 February 2007 22:18 (seventeen years ago) link

I admit some of the production is a bit too clean, but the great songwriting and harmonies compensate for that.

― Piano Fire (Piano Fire), Sunday, 18 February 2007 00:45 (seventeen years ago) link

i have a handful of grand drive records (three singles and an album) and there's really very little special about any of them. the debut single probably has the most charm of the lot. as americana goes, it's low-to-middle tier at best.

― electric sound of jim [and why not] (electricsound), Sunday, 18 February 2007 00:55 (seventeen years ago) link

so maybe there is a VST plugin now in 2007 that can make everything sound really mean and brittle?

that describes 80% of vsts

― electric sound of jim [and why not] (electricsound), Sunday, 18 February 2007 00:56 (seventeen years ago) link

"I have a handful of grand drive records (three singles and an album) and there's really very little special about any of them."

Which album is it ?

― Piano Fire (Piano Fire), Sunday, 18 February 2007 01:45 (seventeen years ago) link

Sound like Brinsley Schwarz to me. Which isn't a bad thing. Hell of a lot of organ, though.

― AKA Mr. Jaq (RJM), Sunday, 18 February 2007 07:06 (seventeen years ago) link

That would be Dodgy. :)

― Geir Hongro (geirhong), Sunday, 18 February 2007 13:45 (seventeen years ago) link

i thought it was going to be about oasis.

With all caps in the header, it could have. Although it probably would have been something like BRITAINS MOST FOOKING UNDERRATED BAND... OF ALL TIME....EVER!!!! EVERYONE ELSE IS FOOKING SHITE!

― Geir Hongro (geirhong), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 06:41 (seventeen years ago) link

Grand Drive feature former member of Menswear, possibly the least "Americana" band of all time...

― neil stewart (nstewart), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 11:15 (seventeen years ago) link

Lionel Richie liked one of Menswear's songs.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 12:05 (seventeen years ago) link

i love this band unashamedly and unreservedly. 'wrong notes' is my favourite song, and their second album is a psychedelic country marvel.

― stevie (stevie2), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 12:10 (seventeen years ago) link

Grand Drive feature former member of Menswear, possibly the least "Americana" band of all time...

also, i don't think this is true. the band you're thinking of was called Montrose Avenue or something, and by coincidence i first saw Grand Drive supporting them.

― stevie (stevie2), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 12:40 (seventeen years ago) link

You are correct, apologies! I was getting my ersatz Americana bands of the late 90s confused!

― neil stewart (nstewart), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 16:24 (seventeen years ago) link

Grand Drive feature former drummer of Gay Dad, possibly the least "Americana" band of all time...

― M Grout (Mark Grout), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 16:25 (seventeen years ago) link

Brinsley Schwarz and Matthews Southern Comfort pwned b4 u were born

― mark coleman (lovebug ), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 16:46 (seventeen years ago) link

to my ears, their myspace tracks sound kinda middle of the road genric. I'd rather hear Mighty Baby's Jug of Love.

― QuantumNoise (QuantumNoise), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 16:54 (seventeen years ago) link

i think that this is my point: why would you listen to quite generic pooshitten like this when you could listen to really good americana/alt-folk-cunt that is out there, surely?

― the table is the table (trees), Tuesday, 20 February 2007 23:00 (seventeen years ago) link

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