Rock and Roll Music: August 2005 Archives

There are moments on the Gris Gris' self-titled debut record in which tape hiss is the loudest discernible instrument. It could simply be that the sound of magnet on plastic is the only audible element that's not completely obscured by a hollow cavern's worth of echo, but I'd like to imagine the Gris Gris' tape hiss-as-instrument aesthetic as something considerably more deliberate than that--a consistency that unites the muddily mired disparity of the band's vision. At first listen, the Gris Gris has an eerily voyeuristic quality; its sound so distant and remote that it almost feels as if taped surreptitiously at a linoleum hallway's distance--a sensibility only enhanced by the glaring irregularities that occasionally blemish the tape. Which isn't by any means to suggest that the Gris Gris are a band of the traditional lo-fi intention--and in spite of how much the technical fidelity of their music seems to play a role in their sound, the Oakland four-piece seem about as far away from the bedroom as one could possibly image.

Formed from the ashes of a solo project surrounding Houston native Greg Ashley, the Gris Gris of their hazy 2004 debut could be accurately described as a garage band--though such an assessment would probably prove grossly misleading. By the same token, it's nearly impossible to hint at the essence of Gris Gris without evoking a dangerously ambiguous qualifier like "psyche"--but again, that's not really it either. There are so many ghosts between the listener and the dank, yawning cathedral from which the Gris Gris seems to echo that the sounds can't help but melt into one another. Galaxie 500 evaporates into Roky Erickson, who in turn fuses with moments of Cale-era Velvet Underground--but with air so heavy, such plain influences do a good deal to obscure one another. And somehow, through this wash of disparity, the record's squelches and swells bond together in glorious, syrupy cohesion.

I have to start off by apologizing to Zac, Marisa, all guest writers who have contributed to the Greatest Band of All Time, all readers who enjoyed and up until this point maybe even trusted this place. I killed it. I just HAD to go there. I have ruined any credibility we had. I'm sorry.

RIP GBoAT.

Yet, I'm totally serious. This is not a joke in any way. At some point, for some reason The Grateful Dead became the most stigmatized band in the world in the minds of independent rockers the world over. I had the very same negative connotations about the Dead for many many years myself. At some point a little more than five years ago I just decided that there might be something there for me. Well, this isn't exactly true. Jake Longstreth and I had a talk about how the Dead are so stigmatized, and we both held these conceptions to a certain degree, but also were supremely curious. At that point it was declared the summer of 2000 would be Grateful Dead summer.

Grateful Dead summer was filled with mockery, exploration, shame, giggles, arguments, and total inspiration. We soon became these Dead Disciples trying to explain to all of our friends how all the preconceived notions about the Dead are wrong. A lot of our arguments were based on this concept that the Grateful Dead was very similar to Pavement and had totally inspired Malkmus. Jake and I would go on and on about this drawing correlations between Pavement and Dead songs and albums. People were not buying it. We went so far as to ask Malkmus whether he really liked the Dead at a "secret" Jicks show that summer. His answers to our question were not as enthusiastic as we had hoped. So, this whole entry might be in vain. I might not change any one's mind or get anybody new into the Dead, but I need to put it out there. The opposition voice must be heard. No more musical tyrannies.

Many taboo bands or genres have become accepted in the last few years (disco music, the band Yes, being a freaky folker) but the taboo on The Grateful Dead does not seem to lessen. What makes this band taboo? Is it the jamming? This is confusing because this is something that indie rock and underground music has really embraced in the last few years (Black Dice, freakier folks, freer/spacemins like Yume Bitsu). Is it the trips/silly/weird artwork and visual stuff?? This can't really be true because the Grateful Dead art style has totally inspired the raddest and deepest of new art like Paperrad dudes. Seriously. Look at stuff like this, or the amazing animation that opens The Grateful Dead Movie(which is my favorite concert movie of all time). Is it the Deadheads?? Okay, it might be the Deadheads. One does not have to be a cliche to enjoy a band, though.

I'm not gonna give a long history or discography of The Grateful Dead, not that I don't know, because hey I have read a Jerry Garcia oral history biography and it was totally killer. I just think that it might be a tad boring. Let's just say these dudes started playing music together as a bluegrass band in the early 60s. Then they turned into a trippy rock band. They did stuff in SF. Acid Tests. Free shows. Known for "powerful" live shows. Was not able to make that translate to studio albums for a while. Made two country folk rock records in one year, and they were both amazing. Played music for 20 more years.

The Grateful Dead had a period (around 65 to 75) that is really unparalleled by any band in terms of creativity. They made social history. They made very weird experimental records that fused live recordings with studio recordings in a very amazing way (Anthem of the Sun). They made two of the best albums of the 70s in one year (American Beauty and Workingmans Dead) after having been called big dissapointments in the studio for their first three albums. Their hit records (Beauty and Workingmans) were complete departures for the psychidelic rock band. They were focused on concise song craft and recording, and not on explorative performance, and they have some truly lasting songs on them. They toured more than any band in the world and have the most extensive recorded live catalog to show for it and this is the period where they built rabid their fanbase that employed hundreds for decades. They built the largest sound system in the world at the time called the Wall of Sound. They tried very hard to make something different and new and special for every album (which led them to wildly go into debt to record companies for deeper studio experimentation time), every concert, and every thing they did in general. I may never be respected by my peers again, but I'll be damned if The Grateful Dead aren't the Greatest Band of All Time.