Wow. This is the fourth and they really hit here. Ive liked previous ones, but this one hits the ground running and impacted the listening experience right away.
There is no faking rock n roll for this band. The strings are real. The horns are real. The piano is real. Every guitar solo was played live. Every bass part, vocal harmony, and every hit of the drum nothing was moved or manipulated. It is what it is. The pop influences go all over the place the samples below reveal that. "From the frantic rush and soothing calm of 'What It Beats,' the album sets about to immediately defy easy categorization, seeming almost desperate not be labeled. Thats no shabby accomplishment in a song that only lasts 51 seconds! Luckily, the rest of the album lives up to the promise of the opening track. From the rollicking rhythm of 'Different Sort Of Story,' the murky guitar hooks and vocals that fuel 'Can I See You Again?,' the downright peppy and upbeat defeatism of 'Gonna Be The Death Of Me,' the southern jam-rock flavor of 'Rottweiler Hair,' down to the plaintive melodies of the closing track, 'Olivia,' they manage to craft a rare thing in this day and age an album. Each song, though capable of standing on its own, fits together with the others and manages to come up with a sum that is far greater than its parts!" Blog Critics. It's apparent that these guys just plug in and rock out. The album's beauty lies in its simplicity. The sheer charisma of the band radiates in every power chord!" Three Imaginary Girls. 3 ½ stars. The first track on Grand Champeen's fourth album, 2007's Dial T for This, starts out with the thunder of guitars, the clatter of drums, and the rumbling of electric bass -- which soon stop dead, with a piano and a string section fading in to replace them. While the guitars and drums do return midway through "What It Beats," this opening is certainly a portent of things to come -- anyone familiar with the Soul Asylum-esque crash and growl of Grand Champeen's earlier albums or their spitfire live shows will be more than a little surprised with the restraint shown on Dial T for This, which trades in their ragged-but-right rock roll for a less aggressive and much poppier sound. "Nice of You to Join Us" is reminiscent of the revved-up twang-pop of the V-Roys, "The Songs You Want to Hear" is worthy of the early dB's, "Olivia" could pass for Badfinger in dim light, and "Cities on the Plain" is (believe it or not) a dead ringer for Game Theory with its aggressive but sweetly melodic guitar lines and buoyant synth counterpoints.-AMG.
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