Moon Beams on: A.Grimes

Here’s a band I hope doesn’t dissolve: A. Grimes – the sooty tones, the psych-experimentation, the murky vocals, the reverb and dingy ambiance, or as band leader, Britt Teusink denotes, “the art of being scum or a literal ‘Grimes’.” There may have never been a band name to so aptly embody the sound and essence of it’s members. These songs resurrect the 1970′s anarchist spirit in fresh form that melds feisty, natural, disorder,  primitive, and avant-garde.

Teusink started a band called White Light Forest Choir just a year or two ago, and that band parted ways last summer. He’s also been a guitarist in Back Pockets, but with their touring schedule and the focus on A. Grimes, he’s also said goodbye to them, admitting, “I’m still deeply in love with those gypsy art unicorns.” Hopefully, we won’t see the A. Grimes project perish, with the great potential it has even in the band’s infancy.

Malt Liquor Fantastrophe is the first EP from A. Grimes, recorded over the course of 5 days in Teusink’s basement. One could easily mistake  the 4 songs on the album to be live recordings, particularly because coughing sounds were left in the mix. However, Teusink explains, “I wanted to get the intensity of our live show or more like the energy of Atlanta house shows, but still have it different with effects and such kind of like hip hop. My friend, Dr. Conspiracy, helped me mix it and actually helped with the recorded composition of “Vegan Hunter”. The coughs…. I’m lazy and coughing sounds funny with a shit load of reverb. Haha, I’m really glad you noticed.”

The album was named after Teusink’s favorite malt beverage. He reveals, “I love the sweet elixir that is Colt 45 (seriously) probably a little too much, and a Malt Liquor Fantastrophe is the beauty that is birthed by getting too faded. Like getting real drunk and having a really sappy emotional conversation that you wouldn’t normally have, that lets you release some shit. Like an emotional dump. Personified it’s just my friend, Bob Basile.”

The songs were written by Teusink under the influence of this sweet elixir, and include a song called “Atlanta Police Department,” which he confesses is about his own run in with the cops, “APD is a dance song about when I was arrested on Kirkwood in Reynoldstown for “Pedestrian in Roadway.”  They brought like 6 cop cars to take 2 passive drunk kids to jail. It was great, but usually I’m just hella faded writing dissonant folk songs on acoustic guitar, then I’ll bring it to practice and we build a monster together.”

The band is part of the Four4 Collective, which we featured earlier this year. More and more of these collectives are popping up in Atlanta, which seems an indication that local musicians are looking for a support system not offered by Atlanta’s music community. Teusink imparts, “I’m really proud of the amount of good shows that happen here, from houses to clubs to the beltline to the arcade. I despise the fact that Atlanta has trouble supporting it’s own bands. People always say you have to leave ATL to do anything, but I think there is something to be appreciated here.” Though he thinks of the collective as “pretty much us just being weird and friends. And Taco night,” the emergence of all these various small collective music groups seems a manifestation of the difficulty to thrive in Atlanta’s music scene, and therefore an attempt to create a support system of their own.

A. Grimes isn’t having much trouble cross-stitching into Atlanta’s musical tapestry. The band has been playing out at venues and house parties regularly. Teusink reminisces on a recent house show highlight, “Seeing beer cans fly, Kenneth’s keyboard getting constantly knocked over, me getting thrown on the ground several times, once onto Michael’s drum set, and the mic hitting me in the face and mouth a lot; scenes from a house show with Red Sea off of Whitefoord. It was amazing.”

Catch A. Grimes with Red Sea, The Leotards, and Soft Powers at Rock Science Revival going down at Picaflor Studio on Friday, February 18.

A. Grimes -
Britt Teusink- Guitar/Vocals,  Kenneth Figueroa – Keys, Micheal Bailey- Drums, Cole Grant plays  bass currently, but after March 2nd Gage Gilmore will be on bass, and Albus Grimes, their snake and mascot.

Nadia Lelutiu