by Brothers Grim and the Blue Murders
As promised, just months after Brothers Grim and The Blue Murders whipped the East Coast into a frenzy on their ‘Been A While’ single tour the boys are back with the long-awaited Roll It In for a country-crossing run of dates. In their trademark explosive manner, they did not muck around when it came time to record their latest release. The main aim, says devilish frontman James Grim, “was to lock ourselves away from the world for three days and punch out all of our inner destructive psyches into one concise raw musical expression.” Three mad days, 30 minutes of fifth gear blues rock. Boom. Done.
Although engineered by Ryan 'Coach' Nelson in Andrew McGee’s Empty Room studio [the two have previously worked together engineering recordings for artists like Gruntbucket and the legendary Spencer P. Jones] the idyllic, isolated, winery location did nothing whatsoever to salve the raw electricity of Brothers Grim and The Blue Murders.
The mind blowing surrounds of the Empty Room - lush green vines to one side, a river to the other, backlit by rolling hills and million mile sunsets – provided the perfect counter to the band’s bloody-minded goal of driving out the filthy demons collected on tour as they set up, locked down and unleashed the seven tales that march end–to-end on Roll It In.
The recording M.O. was too simple: three takes and it’s out – with the intensity that Brothers Grim and The Blue Murders perform, it was probably all it took for the insanely energetic quartet to collapse against the bar, sweat-soaked and hoarse. The three-day rock‘n’roll bender seeped onto tape as a diary drawing on 3am confessionals of friendship, loyalty, loss, hope, loneliness and betrayal — but not necessarily in that order — and a peculiar and slightly frightening study on what James Grim would be like as a father in the reasonably gruesome 'Baby Girl'.
Once the main guts of Roll It In was committed to the form, layered embellishments came from all angles — myriad tools of percussion, xylophones, the explosive talents of the irrepressible Kira Puru on backing vocals and the deranged honky tonk piano of Nick Hurle — before the whole thing was mixed with the original-chrome-stock-car flair of Lindsay Gravina [Living End, Jet].
Take it or leave it - this is Brothers Grim and The Blue Murders.
Brothers Grim began six years ago when James and Matt Grim (Australian Guitar Player Magazine’s ‘Guitarist To Look Out For’ in 2011) began writing songs inspired by the dusty blues music they grew up listening to, but driven with the intensity and excitement of the rock n’ roll bands that informed their youth.
To fuse these elements of old and new – think Australian heavyweights like Chain, The Loved Ones, Rose Tattoo and Beasts Of Bourbon with a healthy twist of rockabilly swagger - the Brothers enlisted Hellbent Revelators drummer Stephen Devlin, infamous for his dynamic style, and the welcome double bass talent of Dominic Lindus who’s thunderous approach and ability to combine complicated slap with subtle traditional blues playing made him the perfect candidate.
Once the line-up was solidified, Brothers Grim and The Blue Murders’ self-branded ‘Sex-Voodoo-Delta-Blues-Abilly’ built a smouldering live reputation as a well-oiled touring hybrid blues machine that engages dedicated punters with a combination of blush-worthy charm, razor sharp wit and explosive performance through loads of sweat, even more swagger and not a little swooning.
After three years of constant touring – following a sold out launch for their debut LP A Year To Forget [2011] at the legendary Corner Hotel — and sell out shows up and down the east coast, Brothers Grim recently made a Rock It Festival appearance alongside The Black Keys. Along with that run, not to mention the debaucherous tour for single ‘Been A While’, they’ve warmed up at Westcoast Blues & Roots, sharing stages with legends Robert Plant, Iggy Pop and Ben Harper, and will kick off the Roll It In tour in style at The Hi in Melbourne.
This week's Top 10:
