At the Dot To Dot Festival in Nottingham, back in May, I noticed some of the most exciting bands I caught were marinated in grunge. One of them was Grandmas House. Their debut album now arrives and the grunge element turns out to be only part of the deal. The queer Bristol femme-punkin’ quartet try on various musical hats but, even at their poppiest, maintain a creeping sense of threat.
Their lead weapon is the rasping voice of singer-guitarist Yasmin Berndt, whose vocals sound like no-one else around, a death metal growl plastered around a tone somewhere between Karen O and Scott Weiland. Yes, that unlikely. By contrast, drummer Polly Dodgson has a sweet clear voice, which comes to the fore on slowies such as “How It Is” and the moody, obsessed love song “Blue Oblivion”, as well being a harmonic counterpoint to Berndt, notably on jangling closer “Spring”.
Grandmas House have the songs too. The immediate big ones include the catchy-chorused single “Dog”, apparently about dismissive medical treatment, but sounding like it could be about stalking. Three more that leap out are "Taxidermy" (another obsessive love song), the album's title track, and the darkly sneery, eventually rampaging “Next Big Hit (Choo Choo)”, an attack on the cynicism of the music business featuring a complexity and catchiness that make for an unlikely comparison with The Last Dinner Party.
The whole thing rides the sturdy post-punk basslines of Zoe Zinnemeister, and is sprayed with the Banshees-like minor key guitar of Polly Jessett, a particular showcase being the Middle Eastern-sound riffery of “Dance”.
There are, suddenly, a bunch of mediocre indie bands receiving hype that doesn’t match their originality or songcraft. It’s as if the zeitgeist has decided it’s indie rock time again – Charli XCX seems to think so – but mostly, in Insta-land, this means an aesthetic rather than anything with teeth. Grandmas House have teeth. Their debut also has moments of real contagiousness.
Below: watch the video for the title track to Grandma's House's album "Baby You're a Winner"
