Grass Widow
Internal Logic
HLR
May 2012
Since emerging from the Bay Area in 2009 with a self-titled EP, Grass Widow have been making an angular racket all their own. The trio’s newest, Internal Logic deftly welds post-punk jangle onto a strong foundation of 60s psychadelia, accenting ragers like “Spock On MUNI” with surf-rock solos and hazy vocal harmonies. Lillian Marning, Raven Mahon and Hannah Lew ably twist and turn their music all about, building danceable bits of distortion into full-on pop songs reminiscent of past tourmates The Raincoats.
Though the record bares traces of Grass Widow’s lo-fi past, they thankfully don’t wallow in cavernous production, instead allowing the record’s reverb accents to draw in and ensnare listeners, a sort of cozy, indie rock flytrap. But you won’t mind getting eaten. From the dreamy swing of “Under the Atmosphere” to “Whistling in the Dark” and its Cure-style atmospherics, this is the kind of record you can live in the belly of, and you’ll never get sick of it.
Listen to this: while burning copies of Vice Magazine with your friends.
-Rob Rubsam