Grand Archives: s/t

Label: Sub Pop

Grand Archives is the new project of former Band of Horses guitarist Mat Brooke. The Seattle-based quintet’s debut album is a wonderful collection of pop songs that only occasionally reference Band of Horses’ signature style – clean, echoing guitar strums and country leanings – and have an overall feel of warmth and optimism rather than sadness. Some of the songs are jangly 60s-style pop reminiscent of the Pernice Brothers, while others shimmer with the same kind of beauty as the Flaming Lips’ more mellow songs. While each track displays a different combination of influences, what they all have in common are rich, gorgeous vocal harmonies and carefully layered instrumental tracks that work together to create a deep, expansive pool of sound you’ll feel as if you could dive into. This effect is the strongest tie that Grand Archives has to Brooke’s past work, and it’s a pleasure to hear it applied to a very different sound. (Kiri)