• Reviews

• All
• Music
• DVDs
• Live
• Cinema
• TV
• Books
• Comic Books
• Video Games

Oct 25, 2019 Web Exclusive By Mark Moody

As charming of a grungy debut as Great Grandpa’s Plastic Cough album was, it did little to reveal where this band might go next. And on Four of Arrows, the band actually goes in quite a few different directions and proves effective at most. The band consists of husband and wife songwriters Pat and Carrie Goodwin along with lead guitarist Dylan Hanwright and drummer Cam LeFlam (cool rock ‘n’ roll name that one). But the band’s secret weapon is undoubtedly lead vocalist Alex Menne.

On an album full of deeply personal songs that tackle depression, anxiety, Alzheimer’s, death, and divorce, you would think the songwriters themselves would have to be the ones to fully convey the songs’ depth. Such is the hallmark of indie rock after all, where not-by-the-book vocalists are welcomed. The fact that Menne is fully invested in stories that aren’t actually her own makes her performance all the more stunning. Menne has one of those whisper-to-a-scream voices that never crack while also managing to tap into each song’s emotional core.

The Goodwins don’t let the honeymoon phase of their young marriage stand in the way of dredging up the darkest of family observances. The dazzling pop centerpiece “Mono No Aware” contains the line “when grandma slowly faded from Alzheimer’s like a lifeless steak in that empty diner,” but that doesn’t keep Menne from propping up the song’s sunny tone. The song’s title relates to the impermanence of things and life and the catchy chorus may have you singing along in Japanese. Likewise, Menne’s voice seesaws through “Digger” creating a dynamic tension to go along with layered and crunchy guitars.

Though many of the songs brush up against the emo revival aesthetic, the band also travels a bit all over the musical map. The songs on Four of Arrows tend to shift and change tempo, but “Bloom” starts off almost like a crossover country tune that a group like Dixie Chicks would kill for. The song name checks Full Moon Fever-era Tom Petty in a coming of age story. That song is followed by a Pat Goodwin solo piano piece that has more in common with “Moonlight Sonata” than the shit kicker stomp that precedes it.

The album hardly has a misstep with only the straightforward power pop of “Treat Jar” feeling a little slick and out of place with the rest here. The closing suite of songs are linked by the sound of rain, with Carrie Goodwin’s “Split Up the Kids” as the centerpiece cuts closest to the bone of anything here. Menne brings the pathos of a family torn apart straight from Goodwin’s family room to yours with the delicate acoustic pacing of Sufjan Steven’s Carrie and Lowell. The album closing reworking of “Mostly Here” deftly mixes in plenty of crunch with a prayerful mantra of a finish. On an album full of thoughtful observations, the one here—“If life’s a dream, I’m not sleeping in”—serves as a tidy summation of all that came before.

No doubt there are plenty of indie rock bands plowing similar ground to Great Grandpa, but the Goodwins’ songs and Menne’s vocals make for a powerful combination that places them towards the front of the pack. From radio ready pop to deeply emotive explorations, the group pushes a lot of the right buttons over the course of Four of Arrows. (www.greatgrandpa.band)

Author rating: 7.5/10