Grand Drive
The Lights in This Town Are Too Many to Count
(BMG)
Grand Drive's alternative take on US folk music seems a little cold on a first listen to this London band's fourth album.
But second time around, a subtle layering of vocals and harmony shines brighter. In the band's quietest mode, on Santa Rita, against brushed drums, dreamy acoustic and electric guitar and piano, Danny Wilson's throaty lead vocals bear more than a passing resemblance to Bob Dylan's. But, although laid-back throughout, a few songs here are drenched in psychedelic Hammond organ and percussion. Although I Won't Let You Down could happily feature on the next Austin Powers sound-track, Danny's brother, Julian Wilson, takes up the mic and adds a Motown-era soul touch with his high-octave delivery.
These retro elements, combined with a 21st-century use of synths and electric guitar pedals work best on The Real Thing, which, like a handful of tracks here, has an unusual deja vu quality of a well-crafted classic. Maybe this familiarity owes something to the fact that the best songs on The Lights sound as if they'd be comfortably at home on something from The Verve or Richard Ashcroft.
