The Grates

The Grates – ‘Feels Like Pain’

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I challenge you, nay, I dare you to find somebody who doesn’t like these guys. The Grates are leaders of the hyperactive, red-cordial-induced revolution, in which the only rules are to smile constantly and have fun. It’s really refreshing to find a group with a high level of professionalism that don’t take themselves too seriously. And it helps when the music is so damn addictive. Patience Hodgson (i.e Hottest Girl in Australian Rock) and drummer Alana Skyring make up the core of this 3 piece, while their sunny pop debut Gravity Won’t Get You High is getting serious airplay on Aussie radio. For a small group, they make a hell of a lot of noise, just ask anybody who attended their Enmore Theatre gig in Sydney last week.

Patience has a soaring voice which transcends the simplicity of some of the tracks, as she reprimands ex-lovers and schoolyard bullies. Like UK’s Lily Allen, The Grates produce candy-coated bombs, tunes which are sunny in their disposition but upon closer inspection, deal with complex issues and themes. But if you can’t be bothered worrying about all that, just dance around like a maniac, in true Grates fasion. With cuts like ‘19-20-20′ positively exploding on stereo, it looks like Patience and co. will have a long-lasting fanbase of teenage schoolkids and those young at heart. Viva la Cottee’s Cordial Kids!

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