Grafton Primary - Eon

Tue 30th Sep, 2008 in Music Reviews

In September last year, Sydney-based electro-noir duo Grafton Primary (made up of Benjamin and Joshua Garden) put out their first EP, Relativity. The record’s chunky synth lines and pumping dance hooks took to the swells of Triple J’s airwaves and landed the boys a spot in the station’s Next Crop promotion that year.

In their first full-length offering, Eon, the brothers Garden kick off first track Records For the Righteous with a dark electro-bass groove and a beat that brings to mind bashed meat (like a punch to the face in a Bruce Lee film). Casio keys soon follow with a sporadic sprinkling of Double Dragon-style Gameboy music. There’s a back and forth interplay between effects-bare vocals and overdriven monotone, with vocalist Joshua chanting – œRecords for the righteous/ Needles on the track/ Sound is independence/ Play the Power back’.

While there’s a lot of thick, modern drama threaded through it, it’s a song (like many on the album) soaked in 80’s electro pop. Use of keytars is a one clear example of the genre, much like the beginning of Telling Lies a near quotation of the intro to Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells. Although Oldfield’s classic was released in ‘73 it was a precursor to the synth explosion which gripped the pop world a decade later.

The vocals on most of Eon are decidedly punchy and rhythmic, Heart In Space and Dimension of Tears make nice contrasts, featuring smooth melodic vocal lines flanked by washes of reverb. As a whole it’s quite an over the top record and should be thought of alongside Grafton Primary’s live performances. Imagine scrawny moustached lead singer Joshua – œwax-on-wax-offing’ the air in circular palm motions, robotic arm movements that melt into boneless rubber flails as well as videos of the duo with live drummer, Robby Mudrazija projected onto a screen in negatives behind them. Without these live images in mind this record may just sound like the product of two guys in their lounge room with a computer and a keyboard. For newbies the busyness of this dance-happy collection may also seem a little repetitive, with the listener immersed in a sea of effects often with little room to breathe. On the other hand those better acquainted with electro-pop and Grafton’s other work, might find the density of this record its most rewarding feature.