Grammatics - 'New Franchise'
Who said pop couldn’t be interesting? For those equally sick of the porno-pop that dominates the charts as well as indie pretentiousness, the Grammatics blow through like a stiff sea breeze. Their new single ‘New Franchise’ flies past with vital urgency, packing a tremendous number of twists and turns into its four and a half minutes.
The track opens unobtrusively, with an abrupt piano figure quickly joined by some flanged chime effects before Owen Brinley’s (overly earnest) androgynous voice kicks things moving. Emilia Ergin’s hoarse cello line keeps things interesting, dragging itself out of whatever dank corner the band were keeping her in a third of the way through, in turn giving way to some eerily whining strings reminiscent of Godspeed You! Black Emperor (of all things) that whir with pressing uneasiness.
This is a great little grab-bag of a track • it’s a pity that the single isn’t balanced with a B-side of some sort. Not to worry; ‘New Franchise’ should find a place on most people’s mix-lists over the next few months.