Grasscut - 1 Inch / 1/2 Mile

Grasscut are a band comprising of award-winning film and television composer Andrew Phillips and his as of yet unknown counter-part, Marcus O'Dair. Their first release together, '1 Inch / 1/2 Mile' has already gained favourable reviews, creating all the right noises from all the right publications and genuinely being touted as the new Gorillaz (because let's be honest, they aren't up to scratch anymore), but is it really worth all the fuss?

'High Down', the first track on the album is all based around a simple piano melody, with breathy almost Porcupine Tree-esque vocals colouring the song before the drums crash in with a dirty electronic bass tone. Seething up and down between quiet verses and loud chorus', 'High Down' is a psychedelic dream and a fantastic start to this release. 'Old Machines' is off beat and completely different but still, somehow maintaining some element of mainstream through its Nintendo-esque use of synths, could this somehow be the new school version of trip-hop, I definitely think so. 'The Tin Man' is a strange song to say the least, orchestrally, it sounds very much like a title song to perhaps a band movie, being epic and grandiose, but the use of the female vocals over an industrial use of the drums is both different and inspiring and really has to be heard to be believed. 'Passing' is more of what I would expect from a band compared to Gorillaz, a hip-hop drumbeat, but with an interesting arrangement assembled and layered on-top, it is strangely both bright and also extremely dark and moody with a series of electronic bleeps overshadowed by dark distortions.

'1 Inch / 1/2 Mile' definitely isn't an album for everyone. The connections to acts like Gorillaz may yet be to Grasscut's peril, there are definitely no 'Dirty Harry' or 'Feel Good Inc.'-esque tracks to be found here but I am certain that if you allow yourself time with this release that it will be more than fulfilling.

4 / 5

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