Grace Period - Dynasty

Boston-based trio The Grace Period have clearly been looking across the pond for their inspiration. 'Dynasty', their second LP, sounds like a pastiche of Portishead and Lemonjelly – but done by Americans. Opener 'Paris Au Printemps' is a suitably hypnotic little number, and 'Welcome to Bali99' and 'Et In Arcadia Ego' are all pleasantly chilled-out. Things go awry, however, when vocals come into the picture. The dubby, sub-Massive Attack sound of 'Best Of Boston' is ravaged by a fingernails-on-chalkboard Noo Yawk whine of ‘what is it like to be sober?’ repeated over and over by a girl who sounds as though she’s never had a drink in her life. Boring 'Arial Layout' is another misdirected venture, the sort of track for which the skip button was invented. Ultimately, though, 'Dynasty' isn’t about the highs and lows; the central problem is the lack of any sort of emotional sincerity. The Grace Period have, apparently, been so busy nicking Portishead’s atmospherics that they have forgotten to borrow any of their pathos (Beth Gibbon’s soaring, delicate voice is also sorely missed). It’s competent Sunday-morning music, for all that; but you’d do well to follow The Grace Period’s example and listen to a lot of British ambient trip-hop instead.

Track Listing:-

1 Paris Au Printemps
2 Best Of Boston
3 She Listens To The Cure
4 My Girlfriend
5 Et In Arcadia Ego
6 I Can See My Breath
7 How To Get Ahead In Advertising
8 Boring Arial Layout
9 Welcome To Bali99
10 Evil
11 Bartley Ride Armor
12 Ghost In The Graveyard