This isn\u2019t much of a bold statement because Matt & Kim is so darn loveable, but I adore this Brooklyn duo (made up of married couple Matt Johnson and Kim Schifino). They\u2019re known for their frenziedly energetic live shows, but they still translate to disc well, too, crafting pop-punk albums that combine breezy joyousness with a certain raw edge. Building off of an EP and their spontaneously sloGppy self-titled debut, 2009\u2019s Grand <\/i>is another dose of all that goodness, only this time, with some more mature textural exploration. Kim is still holding down the beat with sputtering, punky drumming, while Matt\u2019s warm, earnest vocals meld with all-over-the-place synths to create their own mish-mash of genres.<\/p>\n
Of course, everyone knows Matt & Kim for their ubiquitous single \u201cDaylight,\u201d which launches out the disc with plinking pianos, propulsive synths, and Johnson\u2019s wickedly charming vocals.\u00a0 It\u2019s an anthem of total freedom \u2013 \u201cIn the daylight I don\u2019t pick up my phone \/ \u2018Cause in the daylight anywhere feels like home\u201d \u2013 and it makes sense why this single resonated so much;\u00a0 who couldn\u2019t use permission to unplug and cut loose? This song is so good it even shows up again to close the album, with \u201cDaylight Outro Mix,\u201d a slowed-down beat with throbbing drums that bookends everything nicely. The revamp of \u201cDaylight\u201d is kind of a microcosm of Grand <\/i>itself \u2013 reimagining their kinetic bursts of energy into more fleshed-out atmospheres. <\/p>\n
Sometimes this works, and sometimes it doesn\u2019t. The first half of the album is consistently pretty pumped-up, from the bouncing groove of \u201cCutdown\u201d to jubilant, lawless \u201cGood Ol\u2019 Fashioned Nightmare\u201d (which sounds incredible live when the crowd sings the choruses). Meanwhile, \u201cI Wanna\u201d is a barely two-minute dose of raw defiance, all busy guitars and Johnson\u2019s defiant lyrics, and \u201cDon\u2019t Slow Down\u201d is a spitfire love letter to New York City (\u201cLocked knees, no keys \/ Brooklyn, Grand Street \/ Four flights, late nights \/ Black socks, white dice\u201d).<\/p>\n
The latter half of the album is less memorable than earlier tracks, but it\u2019s tough to compete with the sheer ineffable awesomeness of tracks like \u201cDaylight\u201d and \u201cGood Ol\u2019 Fashioned Nightmare,\u201d which are destined to stay in the Matt & Kim repertoire for a long while. <\/p>\n
Still, on an album this short (clocking in at not even a half hour), missteps stand out more than necessary.\u00a0 \u201cTurn This Boat Around\u201d somehow feels long at only two minutes with its swirling, repetitive keyboards and lack of drums, and \u201cI\u2019ll Take Us Home\u201d has some slower sections as well that just miss the mark. <\/p>\n
Luckily, those moments are few and far between on Grand<\/i>. Matt & Kim has forged more personality in two albums than a lot of acts manage to do in double the time, and it bursts out of their music just how passionate and happy they are to be doing what they\u2019re doing.\u00a0 They\u2019d reach even greater heights on 2010\u2019s Sidewalks, <\/i>showing that this leap of maturity in terms of their sound and scope was just a stepping-stone to bigger things. Not bad for a half-hour album, is it?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":30553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8650],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-42221","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-matt-kim","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=42221"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=42221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}