seriously though, all crappy insinuated puns aside, the grates are way better than i think they've been getting credit for. which is to say, for a band with an album as solid as theirs, there hasn't been nearly the mp3blog hype that i would have expected. maybe it's because everyone likes to fall all over themselves heaping praise on be your own pet or breathlessly awaiting whatever it is that courtney love is going to unleash on us in the near future, (and please note, i am a fan of both byop as well as ms love), but it's weird. they're more melodic and accesible than byop (which, understanding how the great big hype machine in the sky works, might be what's ultimately working against them). they are certainly not carrying as much baggage as courtney, and let's face it, maybe it's just time for us to give up the ghost as far as our favourite 90s girl-based bands. they can release as many albums as they want, but they probably are never going to reach the "heights" they did 10 years ago.
it's not a marketing thing, i've seen the cd in almost every mainstream and indie record store i've been in over the past month. whatever, i'm calling on you, the ydb faithful to spread the word. here's some talking points:
- you can dance to it, which is of the utmost importance
-every once in awhile, i catch fleeting glimpses of what 4 non blondes could have been, if they hadn't ended up as a one hit wonder footnote to linda perry's pop songwriting career
- it's catchy, as hell
- they toured with the go! team
- there are handclaps
- the entire album is the perfect length for their music. not so long that you're banging your head against the wall, short enough to leave you wanting to hear more
- if you're into this sort of thing (and let's face it, if you're music-nerdy enough to be reading this thing, you are), the cd packaging is pretty awesome
- they are seriously in contention for best video of the year, look here:
(stephen colbert and his green screen don't really stand a chance against this)

(doesn't it make you want to kind of go out, find them, and just get up to hijinks?...crazy crazy hijinks)

so you've got your talking points, you've fallen in love with the video, no doubt, now what? well, here's some tracks, now go get the album and spread the word.

from gravity won't get you high:

science is golden
19 20 20

the grates on myspace
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