The Grates - Gravity Won't Get You High

for this post I want to take a look at The Grates debut album released last year, Gravity Won't Get You High. I chose this for a few reasons- firstly, they're a Brisbane band, and one I've seen develop quickly from playing support slots and shows at small venues such as Rics to now having gained a recording deal, international touring and subsequent commercial success. They're also of interest to me as they are regarded as an indie band but in many regards have crossed over into the mainstream, so I want to address the issue of what it means to be indie. lastly this 3 piece is mostly female, the guitarist being the only male, which I feel is a current theme of indie bands, that of girls having an ever growing presence in the music making side of things.

firstly looking at the album and its value as a piece of popular media, certain subcultural identifiers can be noted. the album cover and liner notes have a very DIY ethos theme- notably the hand drawn "The Grates" logo onto foolscap paper of the front, hand written credits inside, collage styled art and polaroid photos throughout the albums foldout liner. this all lends to an authentic image, it seperates it from the slick looking artwork and glamour type photos found on countless albums of all different genres.
looking at the cd itself, i find it quite ironic. printed onto the top is an old 5" floppy disk that has the artist and album name scrawled onto it. this again lends to the notion of a certain level of authenticity gained through the use of older technology or home production which has long been an identifier of the indie subcultre - think Guided By Voices.

these themes and aesthetics immediately apparent when picking up the cd reoccur in the music itself. their sound is quite minimalistic, generally each track is arranged much as it would've been played at their first shows, that is with just vocals, drums and guitar- of note this lineup is similar to I Heart Hiroshima, minus the vocalist taking on guitar as well. not just in arrangement but in technique the music continues along this minimalist theme and is all quite basic, power chords a plenty- perhaps a trait taken from the punk movement.

it is a very pop sounding album, in that its very easy to listen to and accessible to a fairly wide audience. i assume this is why the band has achieved the level of success that they have, furhermore i think the album as a whole is a great example of the commercialisation of the indie subculture. the record company has taken all these typically indie identifiers and placed them into a marketable system.