Reviewed by Jakob Williams

Bristol based four-piece, Grandmas House, release their debut album, 'Baby, You're A Winner' today. After three previous shorter EPs over the last 5 years, this album was an ambitious project both musically and technologically, using the high-profile producer Ali Chant (PJ Harvey, Yard Act).

Being really impressed with both the production and musicality of this album; it offered something new and different whilst still fitting in with the genre, the folk/grunge combination really worked. The dark, weird lyrics always seem to scratch a certain itch.

Beginning with the title track, it's a melancholic anthem that kicks off with heavy bass notes from Zoe Zinsmeister, and the unmistakable raspy tone of Yasmin Berndt.

The faster paced ‘Dog’ with a punky intro and verse and an Irish-Folk sounding chorus, the combination reminded me of Ferocious Dog, another great band well worth checking out if this is your cup of tea. 

'Blue Oblivion' with its complex time signature changes from the verse to chorus, feels as if David Bowie decided to write grunge or post-punk. The strange style of the song is reflected by an equally strange music video featuring a headless dancing suit in a weird old house with an empty swimming pool, a great pairing for this peculiar track.

'Dance' is where Zinsmeister’s bass prowess really shines through with a simple but beautiful riff. Combined with the harmonic minor guitar riff in the chorus from Polly Jessett, it takes you to a dark and almost spooky place.

'Taxidermy', a favourite of mine; the haunting tone of the harmonies paired with Berndt’s voice and her creepy lyrics are somehow sinisterly romantic, followed by 'Soaked' with its refrains of “I want to crawl into your brain” and “Do you wanna control me? Push your hands into my skull" journey the album from an almost morose tone to a much darker place.

The band say their album is “about love and infatuation, but also about grief and loneliness” and from the tumultuous tones of the guitar and vocals, with some seriously dark lyrics layered in, I think this really comes across: The album makes you feel a range of emotions as it dances from upbeat to almost forlorn or gloomy in places; An album that can be enjoyed whether you’re going through an arduous breakup or beginning to fall in love again.

Read Grandmas House tour diary of their appearance at this year's SxSW in Issue 24 of Asbo Magazine.