Member Since: 2/13/2006
Band Website: willardgrantconspiracy.com
Band Members:
WGC Current Players or people you might see on stage:Robert Fisher (vocals, acoustic guitar), Jason Victor ( guitars), Josh Hillman (violin, viola) Tom King (drums),Yuko Murata (keyboards, grand piano), Erik Van Loo (double and electric bass), Dennis Cronin (trumpet, accordion, vocals), Robert Lloyd (mandolin, pump organ), David Michael Curry (saw, viola, guitar, trumpet and things that dont sound like you think they will ), Esther Sprikkelman (vocals), Mary Lorson (vocals), Pete Sutton (bass guitar), Erich Groat (mandolin), Drew O'Doherty (guitars), Drew Glackin (lap steel, mandolin), Nancy Delaney (drums), Sean OBrien (guitars), Kirk Swan (guitars), Simon Alpin (guitar, mandolin), Ad Frank (keyboards), Avram Gleitsman (guitars), Charles Callelo (keyboards), Mike Dank (accordion), Peter Linanne (keyboards), Chris Eckman ( guitar, keyboards), Steve Wynn (guitar, vocals) and Linda Pitmon (drums, vocals), Jackie Leven (guitar, vocals), Chris Cacavas (accordion), Paul Tasker (guitar) Iona Macdonald (vocals), Malcolm Lindsay (piano, guitar)
Sounds Like:
Review of Let It Roll from the late great Comes with a Smile:WILLARD GRANT CONSPIRACY Let It Roll (Loose)
Mind-blown as a purchaser at .. 5, my involvement with Comes with a Smile began with the following issue. During this time, my life has changed beyond recognition, much of the new found through doors opened as a result of my contributions to this beautiful thing you now hold. I started promoting gigs as a hobby (now up to 30+ a year), started an internet radio show, still take on plenty of DJ slots and regular local writing assignments, finding myself in the midst of a previously unconsidered whirl of creativity - and loving it. It remains a fact that the flick of CwaS forefinger set my dominoes in motion. Hell, I even met my wife as a direct result of my first review submission, so this is a little bit more than a music mag to me.
For .. 13, I had the good fortune to interview Willard Grant Conspiracys Robert Fisher. The encounter was a little bit different as these situations go, and I remain extremely proud that the necessarily unorthodox resultant piece drew me unexpected acclaim from humbling quarters. In that conversation, we chewed on questions arising from the towering Regard The End (Loose, 2003), a sonic treatise on coming to terms with mortality - a theme that resurfaces on the follow-up Let It Roll. It is with a teary synchronicity, then, that (for now; lets just talk of hibernation) my last review for CwaS is of Willard Grant Conspiracys new offering. It seems apt with an opportunity for some kind of reprise of a personal highlight, and considering such inescapable talk of endings.My partiality for grand exits and propensity for gushing, superlative-peppered copy frothed with overbearing enthusiasm is served well by Let It Roll. The release of Regard The End was greeted with unanimous praise, critics drooling for a band seemingly at the peak of its powers. Note seemingly there, as this sixth WGC studio album cruises past its predecessor on a wave of confidence and the joy of rock dynamics. Let It Roll is packed with surprises and glorious pop twists that could well propel the band towards finally properly breaking their homeland, and will surely see concert venues the world over packed every night. Some of the 10 songs here were showcased on the last UK tour; even in raw live form it appeared that when this album dropped, it would be monumental. And it is. With every track on the album a potential set closer, the effect is almost overwhelming.
There are no signs of where Let It Roll will go on the delicate, downbeat opener Distant Shore. A chamber piece with pretty piano, free-roaming violin and plaintive horn providing a soft bed for Fishers deep croon, its a delightful but melancholy introduction. But then in smashes the howling title track, reminiscent of the Bad Seeds in its unsettling, gothic crunch. (Fisher is no fool, even dropping in the Cave song title God Is In The House in one cheeky moment). Guitars scream and violins scrape for a full 3 minutes (of the 9+) before Fisher booms in, and he ends the song in full-throated scream, pretty much leaving you dribbling and the neighbours calling the police. Blimey.The acoustic side to WGC is magnificently represented on Let It Roll by a haunting folk song and three exquisite plodders, the first, Dance With Me, allowing for exhalation after the preceding maelstrom. Its just gorgeous, and would certainly go in my indie disco erection section. Nonetheless, its beauty is effortlessly matched on the sprawling Breach - which drips with Hammond organ and gentle atmospherics - and the dreamy gospel of Mary of The Angels. All are vintage WGC and further examples, as if any were needed, of Fishers innate ability to compose music of considerable emotional wallop. The folk song, Lady of The Snowline, closes the album and again presents a contemplation on death, but it still twinkles and charms as horns and violin tip-toe softly in and out. Even as the albums shortest track at under 4 minutes, it still warrants the tag epic.But it is the rock side of this band that really fascinates. It shouldnt come as a surprise, as there have been plenty of clues along the way as to what a snarling beast this band can be. Its just that its a little more off the rails and kinda scarier than ever before, and also very brave after the relative tranquillity of Regard The End.Skeleton, in a world gone good, will be a massive alternative hit, blessed as it is with an irresistible funk-lite shuffle and huge pop chorus. And there could be a bona fide radio hit waiting in the bouncy folk-pop of Flying Low: Titled after WGCs second album (curiously, these words also appear in the first line of Skeleton), this is Let It Rolls Soft Touch. However you look at the song in the context of what surrounds it, its great pop. Pere Ubu, Julian Cope and The Scene Is Now come to mind in the joyous art-punk of Crush, which chugs along in an intoxicating soup of noise that Kevin Shields would have spent mucho dollar to achieve. Add the bands grinding interpretation of Dylans Ballad of A Thin Man, where Miracle 3 guitarist Jason Victor turns in a blistering performance, and Willard Grant Conspiracy, the worlds best garage folk-rock band. take a fully deserved standing ovation.
Ill leave them to soak it in, and go with a smile.
Thank you for reading.
TOM SHERIFFwww.dailymotion.com/video/x52m1o_47-willard-grant-con
spiracy-the-ash_musicwww.dailymotion.com/video/x52n9z_47-wil
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Record Label: Kimchee, Loose, Glitterhouse
Type of Label: Indie