Love it, Love it – Nana Grizol (Released May 2008)
With a name like Nana Grizol there seems to only be two options: delightfully spunky indie rock or the latest top 40 rap star. Thankfully for my preferences this Athens, Georgia band is the former, and with an impressive resume to boot: two of its members were formally part of the notorious Neutral Milk Hotel.
And in the same vein of Neutral Milk Hotel, Nana Grizol is a band that moves to the beat of its own drum, offering an eclectic mix of instruments and a slightly unpolished sound that makes it seem as if this album could have been recorded by the neighbor kids down the street. From the light, happy tone of opening track ‘Circles Round the Moon’ to the more relaxed melody of “The Idea That Everything Could Possibly Ever Be Said”, Nana Grizol is an interesting combination of unique and familiar. Featuring instruments such as the trumpet, harmonica, glockenspiel, baritone, piano, and clarinet among others, Nana Grizol’s artistic individuality doesn’t escape the listener entirely thanks to the vocal stylings of Theo Hilton. Part Piebald with a hint of Ben Barnett’s whine from Kind of Like Spitting, Hilton has been compared to the creaky beltings of Connor Oberst, but I think he deserves a little more credit than that same over heard indie grind. Having so many obvious links to his sound, Hilton and the rest of Nana Grizol run the risk of sounding like yet another rough around the edges indie rock band. Luckily each track on Love it, Love it comes with a new hint of another genre, ranging from the well known indie, into folk, to punk and a hint of ska, keeping each note fresh.
Hilton’s voice is more about what its saying than how it sounds saying it, trying to explain things gone wrong in this world in the most basic ways. From the bands urgings for us all to ‘Stop and Smell the Roses’ to letting us know that “the best books of our lives are being written all the time but not one of them is anywhere close to finished yet” in ‘Everything you Ever Hoped or Worked For’, Nana Grizol is trying to remind us of what makes us all human.
While impressively well rounded for a debut album, the easiness of its sound fits ever so naturally with its conception. Before writing Love it, Love it Nana Grizol took a DIY tour across the country, and the album was recorded at Orange Twin, the label that members of Nana Grizol and Elf Power co-own, which runs an eco-village for artists in Athens, Georgia. My one complaint about this album is petty at best, but: the album art is way too similar to that of Boy Least Likely To…’s 2005 release “The Best Party Ever”.
My hopes for Nana Grizol is that they continue to stay away from the teetering edge of cliché and keep spreading the good, wholesome urge for its listeners to “Love it, Love it”.
