Grammatics - Live Review

Grammatics live review from the Nottingham Bodega Social on Sunday 2nd November 2008.

Leeds four-piece Grammatics haven't got the easiest of tasks on this wet and windy Sunday evening. Making their first headline appearance in Nottingham, and with a healthy East Midlands fanbase already under their wing, even the longest of delays in getting the band onstage to commence their set doesn't really make a difference in terms of adding bodies through the door, and while the initial disappointment on the band's faces at such a poor turn out is hard to disguise, it's them and us who've braved the appalling conditions that end up having the last laugh.

Quite simply, Grammatics continued development as one of the most inventive live bands in the country becomes more rapid with every performance, tonight being no exception. Despite their set only consisting of seven songs in total, it's the sheer determination and ambition to create something entirely unexpected that shines through so evidently this evening, particularly on the newer numbers, of which four are aired here.

Owen Brinley's fragile vocal fitting 'Inkjet Lakes' solemn meanderings perfectly, while the emphatic closing double whammy of 'Rosa Flood' and 'Relentless Fours' already display signs of a band constantly evolving even before their imminent first long-player hits the shops, such are their enormous presence as key moments in this short yet exhilarating set.

While there is undoubtedly still time for Grammatics to progress further, where they head to over the ensuing months will be a thrilling prospect indeed, and one that should ensure 2009 being a prosperous year. In time of course, those who missed out tonight will swear they were there, as this kind of event will almost certainly be looked back on in years to come as merely the tip of a potentially colossal iceberg.

Beautifully mesmerising, in many many ways.

8/10

Dom Gourlay