Grand Champeen - Out Front By the Van (1999)

Once again, I failed to make it to SXSW for the 22nd year in a row, and as such, can only live it in the vicarious fashion that typically do. I have chosen none other than Austin's very own Grand Champeen for toady's post (with perhaps some more choice acts from the same town in the days to follow). As was the case with yesterday's topic, Centro-matic, GC can lay claim to some significant twangyness, but being the chik quartet they are, we don't have to endure any Lone Star State drawl. Out Front By the Van, the band's debut, was self released. I caught wind of them when they were touring for Van's followup, the much more accomplished Battle Cry For Help, and was won over by their Whiskeytown cum Soul Asylum sonic amalgamation. In fact, they have been known to dedicate entire sets to Soul Asylum covers - all eras in fact.

I was the unlucky sap to buy a sealed copy of the now out of print Out Front By the Van, sans CD! No joke, but the baseball-capped crew made good on it the next time they rolled through town. As I said, check this out and then go for Battle Cry, which can be purchased online, as well as their third album, The One That Brought You from Glurp Records. A fourth album, 2007's Dial T For This is available from their new home, In Music We Trust.

 

01. Crossing

02. Miles Ahead

03. Train Whistle

04. Threw a Fit

05. She Had a Boy

06. Lucky

07. Standstill

08. Heart Is Blind

09. Fortune Teller

10. Song About It

11. Back In Your Arms

12. Rinkside

13. untitled

 

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