Outside In(fluence): Grow Rich - "Frantic Semantic EP" EP review

Grow Rich is a band from Jakarta, Indonesia that combines elements of My Bloody Valentine, Hüsker Dü, Sonic Youth, and the Jesus and Mary Chain to a fresh, new noisy shoegaze sound. It recalls that time of the late 90s, waiting up at night to greet the dawn in a sweat of confusion and excitement. I heard about Grow Rich from the Warehouse of Strangers Facebook group, and I'm glad I did. This is their new release, Frantic Semantic EP.

The cover art is a cat in purple. The background weave waves the viewer along into the stoically mounted text that sits in the sweep of the Space Age. It's a great cover.

"Bounce Back" is a great song like the Jesus and Mary Chain on Psychocandy. The guitars make a sound of the title - they sound bouncy. "Kawan Lama" is all in another language, but the tuneage is good, solid Dinosaur Jr. warble-skronk. That glitchy breakdown in the end is solid too.

"Tenderfoot" starts the second side with a Confusion Is Sex minimalist dread that flies into a tunnel of lost voices. It's a short tunnel, and then we're into the last track, "Cat Flag". "Cat Flag" starts with an opening narrative before hammering into cosmic guitar slices. This song is the melodramatic truth of mental ruin. "Borderline slowly drove you insane". That's brilliant.

Frantic Semantic EP is a short, solid hit. There's nothing that drags, nothing that snags; it's that blue light of the undergrowth, a neon god from past future hopes. Melodies travel through space from there to here, from me to you. I'll have to check out more by Grow Rich, and I hope you will too.

Frantic Semantic EP receives a Good.