Soaring instrumentals and meandering, emotive vocals blend pop-punk and anthemic arena rock throughout Grass Wolf’s explosive and catchy EP of cover songs Moonshine.
Tell Me Why makes for the perfect opener, introducing the pace and musicianship of a band united in their passionate jamming and unwavering love for music’s history.
The stop-start arrangement brings together multiple sub-genres of rock, the vocal consistently redirecting things, and ultimately we get a colourful hit that begs for you to witness it in a live setting. Weave in a latter-half guitar solo and it surely seals the deal.
As the five-track project goes on, we hear more of that versatile, uninhibited creativity. Consider the briefly mellow stomp of Float On, and the subsequent indie riff-work that aptly tips its hat to the Modest Mouse era. Even the near-spoken vocal and the theatrics and funk skilfully veer off towards nostalgia. Once again, the emotive unity and optimism of the lyrics stands out beautifully.
I Am The Walrus is unmistakable, yet it’s given that essential twist of character true to the Grass Wolf sound – a touch of Americana which lingers throughout a gentler and more colourful, organic Escape From The City.
Then there’s the heavy bass-work and sublime, reverb-drenched guitar sound of a bold and beautiful Uprising – a song that massively showcases the Grass Wolf ability as a musical outfit entwined in this creative pursuit. Undoubtedly a highlight, faultlessly recorded and again urging you to witness it with a live crowd at volume.
In short, an impressive band, who work hard to present this somewhat unexpected collection of covers in a way that makes it feel like their own set. And it does – so much so that the prospect of a performance of originals from Grass Wolf proves naturally alluring.
