A couple of years ago, when The Grates appeared as the biggest of independent blips on the comically over-sized pop music radar, it looked like they had it made. Sporting kamikaze riffs that gave listeners that seemed like they might be able to demolish everything in their path but held at bay by the virtuous, post-punk Disney delivery of singer Patience Hodgson, songs like “I Won't Survive” and “19 20 20” established the band in their native Australia. That assault did leave an impression on the rest of the world too but, because a follow-up was so long in coming, The Grates found themselves in the precarious position of needing to come back with something remarkable when they did make their return.
It would have to be big because going halfway would be tantamount to admitting they had nowhere to go and that first incredible jolt in Gravity Won't Get You High was an incredible fluke.
As “Burn Bridges” rolls out seamlessly and re-introduces The Grates, it's pretty obvious that the band knew it too because no musical or lyrical punch gets pulled (those colossal riffs are back again, and Hodgson is already talking about “sex without the come” as early as “Carve Your Name”) as the band lays down a thorough and none-too-subtle beating on Teeth Lost, Hearts Won that will leave listeners begging for more in fits of ecstasy.
More solid than sinewy in tone this time (and in total contradiction to similarly bent bands like The Gossip), Hodgson, guitarist John Patterson and drummer Alana Skyring wisely avoid the temptation to soften up for acceptance, setting their sights on a breed of power pop that is no less concussive than 2006's Gravity Won't Get You High, but the band's edge is certainly better tempered.
Unlike its predecessor, for Teeth Lost, Hearts Won The Grates up the levels on their rhythm section so it doesn't seem so much like the music is just an overdriven guitar and quirky vocal styling, but a full band effort that presents a very dense and layered group of songs. Tidier arrangements and more lush production bolster songs like “Carve Your Name,” “Two Kinds Of Right,” “Not Today” (where emcee Tim “Little T” Fite guests and juggles the mic with Hodgson) and “Let It Die” and make it possible to hear the flecks of other instruments creeping in on the fringes. Such lush styling beneath the layers – combined with Patience Hodgson's less gimmicky but no less captivating melodies – make for the sort of surprise that fans who waited so long for a follow-up will absolutely rave about because such a muscular delievery still leaves the possibility wide open that there may be more, finer treasures in the pipe.
In the final analysis, while it may have taken some time and uphill battling for The Grates to re-assert and refine their presence in the pop pantheon, Teeth Lost, Hearts Won confirms that the time was very well spent by the band. Those that hung on dearly for The Grates to do something, well, great won't be disappointed and, as the title suggests, Teeth Lost, Hearts Won has the ability to conquer a few more new converts too.
Artist:
Further Reading:
“ The Grates Storm North America. Again.” interview with Grates singer Patience Hodgson on Ground Control.
Download:
"Burn Bridges" from Teeth Lost, Hearts Won
"Call Of The Wild" B-Side from Teeth Lost, Hearts Won
Album:
Teeth Lost, Hearts Won is currently available as an Australian import here on Amazon . The album will be released in North America on September 15, 2009.
