by Matty McPherson (@ghostplanetmatt)
Last year, Husky Pants Records released the latest dispatch from Chicago’s Luggage, introducing the trio’s brutalist “90s Chicago throwback” guitar, bass, and drum sound to a new litany of fellows (like myself). Well, the further you dig into the trio, the more you realize that they are solo mavericks, chasing their musical whims with sincere grimaces. For Luca Cimarusti, this comes in the form of Annihulus’ crunchy, speedy black metal (a vicious treat). For Michael John Grant, it’s practically a 180 from Cimarusti, as well as tickling out the pop prowess lying underneath Luggage.
Michael John Grant has self-released his new album, Just Like Smoke, on his personal Bandcamp. Today we’re looking at the track “Be Amused,” which is a straightforward guitar-pop blast. Perhaps that undersells it a bit, but you’ve got to realize this is nowhere as heavy as the music listed in the paragraph above. Grant’s loaded it with call-and-release vocal harmonies that beget you singing along with your laptop. There’s a folksy-twinge that sounds like a beefed-up descendant of Carissa’s Wierd–no this wouldn’t be out of place on Sub Pop now that you mention it. Although perhaps the most enticing moment of the three minute pop blast comes during the bridge; it is an electrifying build-up, and hopefully suggestive of an astronomical direction Just Like Smoke may take.