Grade

The Embarrassing Beginning (Victory)
by Tim Den

Hey, the title hits it right on the nose. Grade, in all of its predictable sing-scream/loud-soft/we-can’t-play-anything-other-than-emo-chords form, has opened up its high school photo album for all to see. And man did these guys have musical acne. Most of the stuff on here’s so bad, you can’t even sit through two seconds of it before you 1) start chuckling or 2) know exactly what the next change in the song is going to be. The musicianship’s improved lightyears since some of the early stuff on here was recorded, but one thing has remained constant: vocalist Kyle Bishop’s incompetent and unimaginative melodies. The kid packs a growl, but when he starts crooning… it’s all over. Glasses shatter, animals cringe, and pianos go out of tune. Seriously: quit it with the dying kitten voice.
(PO Box 146546 Chicago, IL 60614)