EP: “The Brutal Years” by Dave Griffiths

As a teenager in the 1990’s Dave Griffiths immersed himself with all the music that the decade had to offer, with band’s like Sonic Youth, Pavement, Radiohead and Blur particularly bending his ear. Those years of discovery and innocence are difficult to revisit as you look back with a much older and wiser head. Dave has tried to go back to these times with his latest release 5 track EP “The Brutal Years”. He draws together 20+ years of ambition and experience to pay homage to the music that put a fire in his heart as a young man. These recordings draw on his experience of depression, losing religion and ultimately asking for help. Dave plays all the guitar parts, vocals and bass with his brother Mike fulfilling drumming duties.

The EP Kicks off with “Born” – a gritty feedback-laden tune that packs a real punch with some solid drumming, coupled with some ferocious guitar work and great vocal delivery. “Hide” seems to be coming from a really dark, depressive place and the consistent drumbeat and the atmospheric guitar sound conjure up this feeling. It has much more a “Leisure” feel to it than “Modern Life is Rubbish”. Track three then shows where Griffiths got his positivity and inspiration from with a tune simply named “Thank You Graham Coxon”. A heart on his sleeve moment with the lyric passionately stating “Where Will I Be, Thank You Graham Coxon”. The feedback effect-laden guitars now all make sense, the Blur guitarist did indeed at the time have a very original guitar style that has since been copied by many. Dave here pays homage in his own personal way with noisy guitars and a tune I’m sure Mr Coxon himself would approve of.

The 90’s vibe continues with “I Gave Up Giving Up” and this tune has a much more optimistic feel to it. A short and to the point tune that gives it’s very own rather obvious message. “The Fear” goes into a slightly Grungey territory with some fiercely delivered guitar riffage and a passionate vocal delivery, right from the heart. The EP feels like a release of pressure for Dave; like getting something off your chest, marking a particular point in time from the past. It is sometimes good to look back as to know where you are going to go – you have to make sure you know where you have come from! The Ep really has conjured up the spirit of those 90’s experimental bands and it has made me want to visit them myself too. Right, I’m off to dig out some of my old albums – “Dirty” by Sonic Youth, Brighten the Corners by Pavement and of course “Leisure” by Blur.