Album of the Week: Let’s Eat Grandma

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Album of the Week: Let’s Eat Grandma

I'm All Ears Out Now via Transgressive

Jun 29, 2018 Album of the Week By Michael Watkins

On their debut album, it would have been easy to see Let’s Eat Grandma‘s duo of Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth as somewhat of a novelty. Not in the traditional sense of a jokey, one-hit wonder novelty act, as they lacked the commercial appeal. But more as a group shoe-horned by their remarkably young age, a point of focus that allowed little objective critical light to get in. I, Gemini, the group’s debut release, was full to the brim of the pair’s first exploits in songwriting, capturing a freedom and lack of fear that so often goes hand-in-hand with the experiences of childhood.

It would be inaccurate to say that their debut made them overnight superstars—peaking at #149 on the UK charts and not inspiring the many ad campaigns and subsequent arena tours that greet so many artists that enjoy an astronomic reaction to their only release. But they are also far from unknown this time around—the record store that I used to work in sold numerous copies of I, Gemini on a daily basis. Regardless of how it is you go about writing your follow-up, it is certainly true that for many, as it was with Let’s Eat Grandma, the pressure of expectation is something wholly new to try and wrestle with.

In this context, it’s difficult to view I’m All Ears, the band’s new sophomore project, as anything less than impressive. The duo, now encroaching ever closer on the end of their teenage years, have developed sonically, at least, with an alarming pace. The centerpiece to the record, the captivating “It’s Not Just Me,” feels otherworldly in it’s beauty, but nostalgic in its aesthetic blend of synths and monotone, deadpan vocal delivery—a perfect throwback to breakout singles of the mid 1980s. Elsewhere, tracks like “Hot Pink” and “Cool & Collected” show an abrasiveness to this otherwise pure sound, hinting that the perceived perfections in the group’s sound is nothing more than a skin-deep illusion. Closing behemoth track, the 11-minute long “Donnie Darko,” seems, on paper, to make for an unevenly distributed album, but the song never get’s boring, never feels less-than-engaging, and does a great job of making the album’s longest track feel pretty similar in length to others that have come before it.

Whilst definitely far from perfect, this sophomore album has some truly great moments laced throughout it. It is a record that shows a duo on the ascendancy, feasting on and growing tired of new ideas as quickly as they discover them. This tremendous appetite for evolution can only be a positive for the pair who will embark on their 20s with the world truly at their feet.

Let’s Eat Grandma Tour Dates:

Thu. Aug. 30- Vancouver, BC, Fortune Sound Club,
Fri. Aug. 31 - Seattle, WA - Bumbershoot Festival
Sat. Sep. 1 - Portland, OR, Doug Fir
Mon. Sep. 3 - San Francisco, CA, Rickshaw Stop
Tue. Sep. 4 - Los Angeles, CA, Moroccan Lounge
Thu. Sep. 6 - Chicago, IL, Empty Bottle
Fri. Sep. 7 - Toronto, ON, Drake Hotel
Sat. Sep. 8 - Montreal, QC, Bar Le “Ritz” PDB
Mon. Sep. 10 - Boston, MA, Great Scott
Wed. Sep. 12 - New York, NY, Baby’s All Right
Thu. Sep. 13 - Washington, DC, U Street Music Hall

www.letseatgrandma.co.uk

www.facebook.com/thelegofgrandma/

Album of the Week Runner-ups (Also Released This Week):

John Coltrane: Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album (Impulse!)