Gram Rabbit – Music to Start a Cult To

Singer, Jesika van Rabbit sounds like a cross between pop divas such as Madonna and Gwen Steffani, but then again Gwen or Madge on mushrooms.

Singer, Jesika van Rabbit sounds like a cross between pop divas such as Madonna and Gwen Steffani, but then again Gwen or Madge on mushrooms.

 

Gram Rabbit – Music To Start A Cult To

http://www.stinkyrecords.com  http://www.gramrabbit.com

 

Joshua Tree is not just a U2 album, it is also a desert city in California and home to the strange music family known as Gram Rabbit. Pedal steel guitar, campfire tales, keyboards, electronics, lazer beans, alien code and samplers, these are the sounds of the Gram Rabbit. Singer, Jesika van Rabbit sounds like a cross between pop divas such as Madonna and Gwen Steffani, but then again Gwen or Madge on mushrooms. Their music is a soup of various influences and a style that is best described as electronic-emo-spagetti-western.

 

Their recent tour with Le Tigre and Electrelane in the US can give you an idea of where these guys fit into the music world, but NOT really. I would compare them closer to a combination of the Nancy Sinatra, Johnny Cash, B52’s and Man or Astroman.

 

The album opens with Dirty Horse, the sing-a-long tale of an encounter between Jesus and the devil. Kill A Man is a dreamy, melodic song outlining an outlaw’s reasons for killing a man. It includes the rather creepy lyrics, "I’ll kill a man cause it’s where it’s at, I’ll kill a man no money back". Disco #2 is spacey industrial danceable ear candy. Lost in Place is a rhythmic pop ballad that also sounds very much like it could’ve been a hidden track from Madonna’s album Music. The album closes with New Energy, a song that is absolutely brilliant… a new wave / new age hit. "And now I feel the fucking energy."

 

Something is very funny about this genre of space country electronic music. There has been a slew of bands resurfacing that are playing country music mixed with other influences. Old fashioned country music’s simplicity of sound and lyrics layered with uncomplicated truths make it vastly identifiable in this day and age. Gram Rabbit’s Music To Start A Cult To is very enjoyable as it is bizarrely brilliant and I highly recommend it.

 

Words: Zoe Gottehrer