Hey. You know those kids down the street? Did you know they have a band? What? Yeh, they’re pretty good. Guess what, their band has a name, and it’s Grand Unified Theory, and they ARE pretty good. On their debut disc Berkeley’s own GUT manages to capture all the fun, closeness and hope that hearing your friends play their own songs always elicits. It’s nice to hear a disc full of songs and not wonder what the higher purpose was behind the making of the album. They wanted to play some songs, they wanted to write some songs, and they wanted to do it well. And so they did. Displaying a minimalist straight forward sound that never appears to front or trick you with the latest production trick, you get 10 honest to god rock tracks. Who knows how you feel about the term or concept of “emo”, but undoubtedly GUT will be labeled emo. If you hate emo, don’t let the tag fool you. With GUT you get some steady drums to carry you through the songs, especially on “That Beautiful Parade Down Market Street” where snare drums carry you high above fuzz guitar. With GUT, you also get the guarantee of jangly guitar and some soothing bass. The best part, is they never hide their vocals or try to wash them out. Jerry Chen’s plaintive honest voice always hovers lightly above the mix, and gives you the kind of sweet lyric you wish you’d written. For example, at the end of “She Turned on Him/On On/Him”, where after explaining a mess of a relationship, where nothing works out, and they turn on each other he makes the statement, “Our intentions are a hidden mess, just like theses lyrics.” A warm disc for a cold winter.
- Justin Treadway
West Coast Performer
January 2004