Glass Graves - Architecture

1. The Trap Rebaited
2. Sister Dream
3. Glass Lips
4. Parachutes
5. Mess of Live Vines
6. The Twin
7. Corrine
8. Quarantined
9. Lila Tov

Every once in a while one finds a band that completely and overwhelmingly surprises one positively. Glass Graves, a band I discovered almost a month ago, is one of those bands. This San Francisco band is the brainchild and solo project of Gaby Graves, and the debut LP demonstrates her great affinity with the post-punk and gothic sounds of the 80s.

Glass Graves' debut LP is a very interesting mixture of shoegaze and goth with a dash of lo-fi aesthetic, which is clearly present but doesn't interfere with the music as is the case with some bands going for the lo-fi sound. Her sound has been labeled much better by greater minds than I (namely by Better Than Sex) as Vivian Girls gone goth. Not necessarily a bad point of comparison, except for the fact that I don't enjoy Vivian Girls all that much and Glass Graves kick ass. The LP is characterized by a slow tempo, a certain hollowness, exquisitely layered guitars and Gaby's own voice which is simply sublime. My favourite song from the LP, "Mess of Live Vines," makes use of studio magic to allow Gaby to sing her own background vocals, and the end result is simply beautiful as fuck.

The best part? The album is completely free to download. Just click here.

The final verdict: Glass Graves' debut LP is a great show of skill. Gaby Graves is showing great promise and hopefully we will be hearing more of her in the future. Glass Graves: douze points.