Tonight: Greycoats CD Release Show @ The Cedar Cultural Center

As you may have gathered from its melodramatic title, Setting Fire To The Great Unknown, Greycoats play a soaring, anthemic brand of music that owes a great deal to pre-Kid A Radiohead. But the group also expands upon that sonic palette, incorporating detours into melancholic new wave ("Goodbye, Sweet Youth, Goodbye"), and more modern-day mainstream balladry (much of the album). The fundamentals of Greycoats' sonic template are strong, but they could also use a lesson or two from Shearwater, the simple-yet-ambitious Okkervil River offshoot to whom Greycoats bear a considerable vocal resemblance. However, seeing as this is their debut record, Greycoats have plenty of time to develop an ambition to match their already considerable songwriting chops.

Setting Fire To The Great Unknown will be celebrated at the Cedar tonight.

Hear more at the band's MySpace Page.

(Jonathan Graef)
jon@minneapolisfuckingrocks.com