Grand Animals
by Robbers On High Street

Album details

US: 24 July 2007 on New Line
UK: IMPORT ONLY

Italian composer Daniele Luppi produced the New York band’s second album.

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The critical consensus

While the band’s 2005 debut brought numerous comparisons to Spoon, its follow-up is drawing comparisons to older bands (although Treble still hears a lot of Spoon). Both The Onion and Entertainment Weekly liken the new Robbers to the Kinks, while CMJ calls Grand Animals’ songs "60s-centric gems" that evoke "the buoyancy of a yesteryear masterpiece." Similarly, Lost At Sea figures that the band have been listening to–can you guess–the Kinks (and, also, The Who), but they do state that "Grand Animals is the album that separates them from the hordes of bands milling about out there in the same ballpark."

Treble concludes that "Grand Animals is the sound of a band finding its groove in all the right places." Amazon also enjoys the disc, noting that the band "has balanced its studio ambition with just the right amount of real world restraint, coming up with a disc that actually improves on the first while maintaining the trio’s wry quirks." Prefix, too, finds album #2 a vast improvement over their "one-dimensional debut," but says that Robbers still have "plenty of room to improve," with the new album as a whole falling a bit short. And the Boston Globe complains that "too many songs sound overwritten," while Pitchfork concludes that "these songs work way too hard to attract and sustain your interest."

This sophomore LP boldly defies genres while delivering the feel-good fuzz of AM Gold classics.

- Taylor Mason, CMJ

Review roundup

Tracklisting and media

1. Across Your Knee
   
2. The Fatalist
3. Crown Victoria
4. The Ramp
5. Kick ‘em in the Shins
6. Nasty Numbers
7. Married Young
   
8. Your Phantom Walks the Hall
9. You Don’t Stand a Chance
10. Guard at Your Heel
11. Keys to the Century

Also on the web

• Official Artist Site
• Robbers On High Street @ MySpace