It’s no secret Austin Texas is known for it’s live music scene—self-proclaiming to be The Live Music Capital of The World—not to mention for being weird. The locals might be a little jaded, but there’s something in the water down there that keeps the apples alive. From what I’ve heard of Grand Champeen’s latest Dial T for This, apples don’t fall far from the tree. There are some brilliant power pop rock gems here. Wounded Eye slays. Well, they all do… Listen to a couple of the tracks below.
When I was down in Austin for a conference last summer, I took a break from the nerdy software worship scene for a bit and decided to head over to Emo’s Lounge. I had read in the Chronicle there would be punk rock djs spinning vinyl, so I headed over.
Emo’s lounge was empty, when I arrived, but they were spinning Vee Dee and it sounded good on the vinyl, I decided to hang around for a bit. After a while, the bass player for Grand Champeen Alex ended up there after a shift at Stubb’s bbq where he proclaimed that the set by Gnarls Barkley had just sucked it up. Say no more. We had some drinks and got to talking about the band he plays bass in, Grand Champeen. Referred to as having a big Minneapolis sound and paying homage to bands from MN from late 80s era, Husker Du, Replacements, etc., he mentioned that they were either wrapping or had just wrapped recording on their new, presumably this, record. I told him to let me know if they ever got up to the Northwest. And so now you know.
Grand Champeen headlines an EARLY SHOW (Starts at 5PM) at Hell’s Kitchen this Sunday and their new record, Dial T for This, can (and definitely should) be purchased at CD baby. Other bands on the bill are Never Quiet Never Still, The Beltholes, Glossary and The Lund Bros. I know it’s a Sunday night, but it’s a good night to make an exception to the rules. Ditch school. Go on now, get it.
The band is playing a live in-studio at KEXP on Saturday at 3PM which you can hear on the web and if you can’t make it Sunday, they’re playing the Tractor Tavern in Ballard on Saturday night.