Grimace Federation’s On Velvet has an appropriate name. There is a certain smoothness to the EP, both in the delicately churning atmospherics it offers, as well as the way each track seems only a logical next step after the one preceding it. But you’d be hard pressed to find anyone that would call this Muzak, at least not with a straight face. While you can definitely put the EP on and relegate it to the background if you choose, the ambiguity of the mood it produces will most likely challenge you to give it a closer listen. On the surface, it’s fairly lighthearted stuff. But wrapped around the contours of even the brightest brass arrangement is a pervading sense of mystery, and slight rumblings of darkness.
Trying to file the record into some preset genre would be a little unfair. “Post-rock” seems the closest match for these guys, considering the highly textured arrangements and math-y rhythm section. But even that proves misleading, partly because the sonic palette of Grimace Federation is fuller than what most people expect when they hear that term. The spaced-out guitars are there, but so are various keyboards, tinkling bells, horns, and the band’s trademark vibraphone (ok, ala post-rockers Tortoise). But instead of Explosions in the Sky or Mogwai, we have something different altogether. The tracks also spare the listener from the tired “build-build-crescendo-dissolve” formula that characterizes a lot of similar acts, instead opting for upbeat openings followed by playful, more contemplative bits towards the middle.
Opener Bosico might be the best microcosm of the record as a whole. It sounds almost krautrock with its steadily propulsive rhythm. The EP’s centerpiece, “Black Mesa” starts with a heavy guitar intro, then shifts through a variety of textures all based around a vaguely Latin beat, replete with horns and desolate, delayed guitar and keyboard. Fans might be surprised at the almost complete lack of electronic sheen that permeated their previous releases. But the changes aren’t drastic by any means, as the record is still warm and jazzy, sprawling and involved. While this album may seem outdated compared to their current live sound which is leaning more to the darker side of metal, this snapshot of music history may have to tide you over until the next album. Keep your fingers crossed that it won’t take a few years again.
You can check out On Velvet’s opening track “Bosico” below as well as the video for the remix by Aesop Rock (that Grimace’s Xack Xweig mentioned in his interview for our Where Is My Mind? section here). – Joe Poteracki
Bosico by Grimace Federation