GRAMMATICS

Main chronology:

• 2009: Grammatics

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GRAMMATICS

1) Shadow Committee; 2) D.I.L.E.M.M.A.; 3) Murderer; 4) The Vague Archive; 5) Broken Wing; 6) Relentless Fours; 7) Inkjet Lakes; 8) Polar Swelling; 9) Rosa Flood; 10) Cruel Tricks of the Light; 11) Swan Song / [untitled hidden track]

Another set of young hopefuls of its era with their unique tricks up their sleeve, which just aren't realised as well as they perhaps could have.

There wasn't anything stopping Grammatics from achieving the same level of critical success as many of their peers in the rich treasure trove days of the late-00s UK scene. Owen Brinley had his theatrical falsetto and elaborate purple prose lyrics, their songs had the right mix of art school ambition and delectable hooks while carrying the same explosiveness that the British indie rock of the 2000s had in particular, and they had a "gimmick" (cellist Emilia Ergin being a permanent member of the line-up). In summary, they had all the elements to create a passionate fanbase that would carry them and make them blogosphere favourites. But despite the initial buzz something just didn't quite connect with the online fanzines that ran the town, and in a few years time the group called it a day citing financial difficulties - and they never got the posthumous appreciation that would get people to mention their name when waxing nostalgic about the period (the current RYM ratings clock at below 200, which says a lot). That is, except in my circles: a close friend of mine was obsessed about Grammatics and his enthusiasm about them at the time ensured that the band's name would forever live in our heads.

Despite the personal context around it I'm not going to make the argument that Grammatics is a lost classic, for reasons we'll get to in a bit - but it has all the ingredients set on the table ready to be one, and the band behind it maybe just needed another stab at the recipe to get it completely right. Regardless, Grammatics have already discovered what they strive for: the music's lightly math-rock -esque twists and turns accompany theatrical gestures that give their elaborate indie rock a sense of weight and passion, even if sometimes those leanings feel a little too designed to elicit an emotional reaction; Ergin's cello, while not a game changer, does also lend a dramatic undertone tose the songs and rather than just being a cello part laid on top of rock arrangements, it's woven deep into the arrangements, frequently inhabiting places where you'd expect a guitar riff or a synthesizer part to be. When all those pieces come together seamlessly, for brief moments you too start to wonder why fortune didn't shine on this particular band brighter. "Polar Swelling" in particular is the sort of song you want to drop in every mix and compilation (or playlist) you craft to make people aware of it, gorgeously building across its scant-seven minute length and eventually it dramatically unfolds, with the cello gliding across the shuffling beat and mournfully underlining Brimley at his most aching. It's as close to a calling card or a signature song as the album gets, the song that demonstrates exactly why you should believe in this band - and the urgently soaring "The Vague Archive", the gently atmospheric yet ever-moving "Murderer" and the aggressively dynamic "Relentless Fours" aren't too far behind either, all illustrating the band's blend of edge and theatricality.

Here's the 'but' though: the frustrating thing about Grammatics is that it is frequently on the cusp of excellence, only to get pulled back from it not because of any great flaws, but just because of some telltale signs of a band still finding its feet around which keep on piling up. Every song is about a minute too long because the band get too caught up on repeating the big central hook over and over again, Brinley's style (both vocal and lyrical) can be really hit and miss throughout the record, and to bluntly put it sometimes the writing pen just isn't as sharp as it could be. The last part in particular hurts the end of the album because the least memorable songs here are all in the last third, and so after a really promising start the album ends up fizzling out with barely a whimper. It's certainly nothing the band couldn't have overcome on album #2 if they'd kept on building on what makes this so promising, but that obviously never happened and as it is, it's enough to wedge a distance in the resonance between the album and the listener. That's the biggest stumbling point for me personally: that for all the grand gestures, Grammatics rarely actually make me invested beyond the surface level. It's not like they can't do it, see e.g. "Polar Swelling" or the wild rush of the chorus for "The Vague Archive" (or "New Franchise", a non-album single released shortly after this album that's probably their finest composition and which this album could really have done with including), but often it just doesn't come through. Part of it could be the clinical production, part of it could just be that (ironically for their dramatic approach) Grammatics sometimes sound like they're holding back or are controlling their cool a little too much throughout the album: so many of its explosive moments or the parts where things get grimier and darker sound too planned to elicit a certain response, rather than something that comes out of the songs naturally.

All that leaves their self-titled debut in a slightly awkward but ultimately still intriguing position. For anyone doing a real deep dive into this very exciting period in British music, it's certainly an interesting stop to seek out and listen, but it's unlikely to crop in conversations as a true lost treasure buried in the sands of its era unless you were there at the time - but nonetheless it's an album which perhaps still has just enough to keep in it to make the archeologic endeavour worth the effort, even if for the few songs where Grammatics make it clear that there was a compelling vision and talent here that still makes them a distinguishable act in their own right.

Physically: A standard jewel case with a lyrics booklet.