Taking their name from National Lampoon’s favorite vacationing family, The Griswolds are touring in support of their debut album, Be Impressive. This Aussie foursome lit up the Independent and played an impressive set for a capacity crowd that fell somewhere in between the sounds of MGMT and Vampire Weekend—but with the energy of an atomic explosion in their live show.
There’s been a recent surge in bands with this type of sound though. I think it started with Youngblood Hawk and I really thought they would blow the scene wide open, but that never happened. Passion Pit could have easily carried the torch a bit further but their second record was a bit disappointing as I think they lost their quirkiness which really made them stand out amongst the pack. The Griswolds on the other hand are in control of their own destiny with their next record, which I believe the band is heading back home to record as I write this.
Highlights from the set and recommended listening from their debut are “Right on Track,” “16 Years,” and “If You Wanna Stay,” in that order. It was incredibly difficult to get good photos from this one as the lights are always challenging, to say the least, at the Independent and there’s no photo pit. Luckily they have a very cool fan base that can be very accommodating to photographers.
In fact, at some points during the evening it felt as if I was at a huge party at someone’s house—you know, the type of party that you only see in the movies. That’s the atmosphere at a Griswolds show and I hope they can translate it to bigger venues as their fan base continues to grow.
If these guys keep their momentum, don’t rush the songwriting process, and ultimately evolve their sound a bit on their sophomore release, they could be the next leader here. But keep in mind that it’s not called the “sophomore jinx” for nothing.
Opening band Urban Cone was a pleasant surprise as well. These guys have a very cool retro throwback feel that reminds me of my favorite synth pop bands of the early ’80s. Their song “Come Back to Me” is incredibly catchy and is still stuck in my head more than a week later.
THE GRISWOLDS
URBAN CONE
Check out high res photos from the show in the gallery here.
