Album Review: New Grenada: Modern Problems

Here comes my head-turning experience with the New Grenada’s Modern Problems. I’ve had this disc sitting here gathering dust since last summer, and I’m kicking myself in the ass hardcore for not giving it a spin sooner.

The band’s unconventional take on guitar pop has always has always been appealing, but Modern Problems steps up as a really good, varied punk album. Perhaps Steve Albini’s hand in recording/mixing have something to do with that … or maybe John, Nicole, Shawn and Dave just had it in them to add a bit of crunch to the proceedings this time around.

Extremely catchy “Emergency Brigade” rings with a thick sound and a painfully simple dink of a keyboard line supporting John’s mono-fuzzed vocals; that floats into the subdued, rolling guitars of “El Paso,” which could serve as the nicest sounding tune in the NG archive. In “Borderline Cougar” John prattles off a list of off-kilter qualities to find endearing in the fairer sex over an ace Pixies-esque bassline. “Infections” is a sub-two minute toe-tapper that shows the power restraint can offer to a rhythm guitar.

For as nice as that handful of the songs are, the album peaks when the band flips its wig. Nicole’s crazed wail of “He’s constantly thinking about what you’re thinking about him” carries like a siren as it punctuates the frantic pace of “Parting Shots.” Punk-as-fuck “Chumps” throbs back and forth on a haggard guitar riff as Shawn’s cartoon-ish vocal inflections spit absurd cadences like, “All day he carries guns and eats hot dogs / He’s the kinda guy who gets lapdances every weekend / He’s a chump.” NG’s cover of The Skins’ “You Said It” is damned convincing with its grinding guitar riff pushing Nicole’s angry dialogue. (NOTE: I couldn’t find word one about The Skins anywhere. Ugh.)

One of the main issues with New Grenada is that the band’s material has always been hit or miss; what’s good is good, but the rest could be easily pushed aside. Sure, Modern Problems is short (10 tracks, 24 minutes), but it’s a milestone in that there’s no wasted music – every song’s a keeper (even though the vocals on “Episode” remind me WAY too much of Jimmy Pop from the Bloodhound Gang for some reason). Anyone having issues with the band’s past works might wager a listen or three to this release.

… can’t stop laughing at the fact that the lyrics I quipped from “Chumps” make me think of half of the vendors at the Gibraltar Trade Center, heh …