Grinspoon - Six ToMidnight

Thu 12th Nov, 2009 in Music Reviews

Way back in 1997, Grinspoon’s debut album Guide to Better Living cemented itself as the soundtrack to many an Aussie teenager’s life. Thanks to a little love from the Js and a handful of ultra catchy post-grunge tunes, including the nonsensical Just Ace and that stomping festival closer Champion, the album fast became somewhat of a – œ90s Australian rock classic.

Flash forward twelve years, six albums and a sprinkling of controversies later and Grinspoon have well and truly cemented themselves as one of this country’s most successful bands. Love or loathe them, the – œSpoon has maintained an enviable career in Oz, despite (or perhaps in spite) of the naysayers and – œcontroversies’ that have so often footnoted their albums.

This brings us to the band’s most recent offering Six To Midnight, an album uncharacteristically free of the usual Jamieson scandal. The most widespread observation I have read about this album is that it doesn’t see Grinspoon – œtread new territory’ – a valid point, albeit a slightly redundant one given the most musically explorative the band has been was when they road-tested a slightly poppier sound on New Detention.

Six To Midnight is a Grinspoon album through and through. It sees the band getting back in touch with the sound that made them a festival favourite in this country. The riff-heavy Dog, with its guttural Jamieson chorus vocals, harks back to Champion era Grinners and is sure to take pride of place in the band’s BDO sets next year.

Run has a similar energy and has clearly benefited from the live recording process the band undertook with producer Rick Will. This approach to laying down the album’s thirteen tracks, has allowed the band to translate their unreserved live energy onto record. This is most evident in tracks like the anthemic Lockdown.

The most detectable shift forward on this record is the development of Phil Jamieson’s vocals. Gone are the pitchy cries of albums past – in their place a confident vocalist who displays newfound strength on the album’s slower tracks such as the soul-bearing Comeback.

Grinspoon do not reinvent themselves on Six To Midnight, but they do remind us why they remain one of Australia’s most enjoyable live bands.

Six To Midnight is out now through Universal.