THE GRATES hail from Brisbane, Australia, probably best known in indie circles as the birthplace of The Go-Betweens. It's a jarring comparison when considering The Grates, though, as this scuzzy two-girls-one-boy outfit are some way from the literary guitar pop proffered by Messrs. Forster and McLennan. While the Go-Bs might have been lying in the gutter looking at the stars, The Grates are lying in the gutter peering at the drains.
Which isn't such an insult really, because their staunchly lo-fi, bassless ouevre has a certain breathless charm. It's been winning over London audiences of late, not to mention the SXSW Festival in Texas to boot, and the four songs crammed unceremoniously into 10 minutes here have their moments.
Opener "Message" and the concluding "Trampoline" are probably the pick of the bunch. The Grates' sonic ancestors would surely include Huggy Bear, The Slits and maybe The Raincoats on a crateload of steroids, while their deranged thrash recalls contemporaries such as Oregon's The Thermals. "I've got a message for you and it's urgent!" yelps vocalist Patience, getting unfeasibly hot under the collar on "Message", while revealing that she'll "use your bed like a trampoline, if you know what I mean" on the drum-heavy-and-so-simple-it-hurts "Trampoline". And yes, Patience, I'm pretty sure we do get yer drift here, too, you saucy little thing!
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"Sukkafish" and "Wash Me" are a little less effective. The former is slower and folky, almost like a corrupted nursery rhyme, with John scraping maniacally at his guitar and Alana drumming like she's swatting wasps away. Subtle it ain't, though it's scientific compared to "Wash Me", which is a looped-out lo-fi strut where Patience sounds like she's on heat and straining at the leash. Whoa there girl!
"The Ouch.The Touch" has a grubby allure, but it's too frenzied and fizzy to leave a satisfying aftertaste. It's a quickie behind the bike shed rather than a lengthy romp in silk sheets, and sometimes we all ask for something more lasting from life, don't we?
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