Grampfather 666G
(2022, Independent)
Kingston band Grampfather has a sort of Swiss Army-knife quality to them: The quartet has many sonic tools at its disposal in a compact package. On this mini-album, the band’s sixth release, Grampfather adroitly incorporates elements of hard rock, sunshine-psychedelic pop, punk, and prog into an engaging batch of songs. Songwriter and guitarist James Kwapisz leads the group, which also includes Tony DiMauro (drums), Andrew Blot (lead guitar), and Jake Offerman (bass). The title cut is drenched in hazy reverb, ruminating on the insidious nature of our hyperconnected modern world. By contrast, “Hot Dog Beach” begins with a snippet of cawing seagulls before launching into a simultaneously languid and invigorating power pop/psych-pop mixture. For a cut approaching eight minutes, not a note feels extraneous: It’s an idyllic, but powerful tune, with just a hint of menace (and some exciting guitar solos). The Hudson Valley has an incredibly fertile scene, and these boys are right in the mix!
This article appears in August 2023.
