Wednesday, March 18, 2009

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
 
 

8 comments:

Luis Angel MartĂ­nez said...

i went to a dinosaur jr show in austin on 2007 and grand champeen opened, they were really good, it was fun!!

thanks for sharing this album!!

Unknown said...

The 2 Best shows I saw at SXSW this year were Grand Champeen (Beerland) and Grand Champeen (Hole In The Wall)! I don't know how these guys can continue to top the previous time I see them - even when it's only 2 days apart.

goldfishstix said...

any chance for re-up on this? hard drive crashed and can't find my original copy.

goldfishstix said...

Still hoping for a re-up.

spavid said...

The link has been updated!

goldfishstix said...

Awesome, thank you kind sir!

mattkb said...

I know this is from forever ago, but I can not find this album anywhere. I would GREATLY appreciate it if you would upload Grand Champeen's, Out Front By The Van.

Thank You

Unknown said...

Thanks for this....great addition. Does anyone have any info for a digital download from a former Austin band, Partners in Crime????? They deserve a little attention eh?