Sub Pop Records

Seattle, WA is famous for many things. Sunlight is not one of them. Yet illumination and warmth suffuse the self-titled debut from Emerald City quintet Grand Archives. Dark times do not necessarily call for dark music. And, while singer/guitarist Mat Brooke’s previous ensembles – Band of Horses, Carissa’s Wierd – often shied away from light, he has changed direction with this band. To be clear, The Grand Archives is not escapist bullshit. But like the timeless classics of The Mamas & the Papas or The Turtles, it responds to the turbulent times of its genesis with hope, high spirits, and a sense of camaraderie.

Brooke started Grand Archives with a trio of friends in September, 2006. Drummer Curtis Hall (The Jeunes), bassist Jeff Montano (The New Mexicans), and guitarist/keyboard player Ron Lewis (Ghost Stories) shared his desire to make great pop, rather than curse the darkness; guitarist Thomas Wright signed on soon after. “We all knew each other already, and we had the same idea for the style of music.” The Beach Boys and Bee-Gees were referenced freely, sans shame or irony. Four- and five-part vocal harmonies were essential; in time, lyrics would be rewritten, sometimes repeatedly, to resonate better when sung.

Finding their sound came naturally. Fine-tuning the songs? That took some work. The band recorded its debut at three different studios throughout summer 2007, with Ben Kersten producing. “We wanted to mess around with as many unorthodox instruments and sounds as we could,” says Mat. Across the album’s eleven tracks, you’ll hear trombone and Flugelhorn, violin and pedal steel guitar – and some timbres trickier to identify. Slide guitars were rubbed with violin bows, cellos plucked to create…