Remember those moments when Beavis and Butthead would start head-banging out of pure, adrenalin charged excitement at the video they were watching at the time (“yes! YES!! YEAH! Rock! Yeah!”) That would be the only possible response to ‘pacific’ by Grand Central unless you hate rock ‘n’ roll. A punk infused charge through four tracks in twelve minutes, Grand Central’s ‘01’ EP takes its cues from Botch, Refused and Fugazi and simply storms the barricades like a propaganda-crazed enemy of the state, tearing holes in all that you hold dear with a blatant disregard for civility and sensitivity.
As ‘pacific’ blows holes in your psyche with a brutal riff, gang vocals and pure rock fury, so the brilliantly titled ‘you fuck… we don’t’ is a beautifully snotty piece of punk rock aggro – and by punk you can dismiss any ideas of G**** D**, this the real goddam deal and it’ll swear at you and spit in your face as soon as look at you. There’s a wave of raw authenticity shot through this brilliantly recorded and produced slab of sonic violence and before you know it your into the searing ‘beautiful losers’ a sneering, raw-throated ride into the dark territory of the deranged via a brilliant and deceptively simple riff and Clement Henry’s perfectly aggressive screams of anguish. Indeed the feral nature of the music disguises first rate musicians at the heart of Grand Central and for all the rage they play with a precision that marks them out for great things if they can only survive their own unhinged live performances.
Only one song remains – ‘hollow’, and it’s another spit and sweat-soaked number that will leave you bouncing around the room in delight only to be devastated that it’s all over so quickly – the only consolation being that you can press play and start all over again… several times.
This is a short EP so a short conclusion is not without merit: Grand Central are fucking ace, buy this EP and support real punk rock.
