Grizfolk - Waking Up The Giants

Grizfolk
Waking Up The Giants
2016
Grizfolk - Waking Up The Giants

It seems to be the common trend in a lot of Indie music to side more on the stadium filling epics and less on the small scale. Hence we arrive at Grizfolk's newest album Waking Up The Giants, where the group combines the slick shine of modern electronica with gritty Indie rock. You may be surprised to hear that this is Grizfolk's debut record since a number of singles and EPs have had them in the conversation for sometime now but this indeed their first. The electronic element on the record is really not more than a light touch, giving it a modern sensibility but never crossing to far into straight up dance floor hits. Throughout the album Grizfolk are able to maintain a nice groove bolstered by really understated and stellar percussion. "Troublemaker" the lead single from the record is on the darker side exploring a rhythm that is different from the rest of the tracks on the album. It does not have the same energy that the majority of these songs to, but there is a nice brilliance to it. Adam Roth's vocals have just the right amount of grit and growl to backup the edge that they are trying to obtain with this album

One of the issues here however is the pacing on the album. It feels like Grizfolk put everything they had in to the first few tracks so as the album progresses, especially after "Waking Up The Giants", the record begins to falter. "Bob Marley" though interesting musically is one of the weakest tracks on the record. It's attempt at a 70s vibe is perfectly fine, but it just never really feels like anything. The second half of the album seems to descend into some kind of love song medley until you reach the final track on the record "Wide Awake" which bring the whole thing back around. The amount of touring that the band has done over the past two years seems to have heavily influenced the progression of the record as it plays more like a live show rather than an album. In the end this is a solid record that features some real potential hits. These California based boys will be on your spotify playlist someday so you might as well get into them now.

7.2 out of 10