There are people out there who will tell you that Radiohead have never been better than they were on Pablo Honey, and there are far more who will tell you that The Bends was their magnum opus. Muse were seemingly of a persuasion that demanded Pablo Honey and The Bends were equally important and influential; the sounds they made bled of these influence. Berkeley, CA’s Grand Unified Theory too, seem to be under the same beliefs as Muse, either that or they believe that Radiohead have never been more influential than on Muse’s Showbiz, because it’s fucking ridiculous how much this band sounds like Muse. Seriously, strip Muse of their glossy production and there you have it; at least for half of Grand Unified Theory’s self-titled debut, that is.
But GUT don’t list Radiohead or Muse as influences, so maybe it’s all just one bizarre coincidence – maybe they’ve never even heard of these bands – still, the fact remains that they sound a lot like them. On the other hand this band lists Bright Eyes and Cursive as influences (they like to listen to them at least), which also happens to be very prevalent in their sound. But let’s not jump the gun and go pigeonholing GUT into that done-to-death Brit-pop/rock-emotional-folkie category that everyone’s listening to these days, because what this band presents is largely two distinct styles that rarely converge; like half Muse and half Omaha emo, with the occasional union that sounds considerably like Desaparecidos.
The difference between, say, “Unclaimed Song #1” and “Remarks Made During the Final Interview” are undeniably distinctive. The separation is so clear, in fact, that it’s easy to be fooled into thinking that there are two frontmen in GUT, each taking their respective turns at the helm. But from all this band will let on, Jerry Chen is the only lead man, so we’ll just have to accept that or be a little confounded by it. Chen’s transitions from fiery falsetto to restrained discontent and overtly restricted breathing just don’t match up – really, it’s as simple as that.
Production aspects also do not quite match up, as this overambitious basement project has some pretty respectable names in the mixing and mastering credits – Aaron Prellwitz and Doug van Sloun take these credits respectively – but for the most part this album sounds like your typical first-shot recording. Although at some points Grand Unified Theory can be so good you’ll wonder if you should have heard them much earlier, far more often their arty style proves a bit more than they can pull off, and much of this comes back to production quality.
Through it all Grand Unified Theory are a band worth hearing. Though they aren’t onto anything all that unique this time around, they show a lot of promise in the combination of their aspirations and ability.
5.1/10
- Brian Holm
30 Music
January 2004