Calling their album something as bold as ‘Be Impressive’ was always going to be risky for Australian act The Griswolds, however much acclaim and kudos and hype they’ve received in the run-up to its release. It may well be intended as an affirmation to listeners, positive words of encouragement and all that, but it’s equally interpretable as a motto by which the band strive for their musical goals. It’s a big challenge. The ‘Purple Rain’ style typeface isn’t especially cool or impressive either.
Some nice throbbing bass and sturdy beats on ‘Right on Track’ are undermined by some supremely upbeat vocals. Even when they’re doing bitter and angry, they sound so happy, with airy ‘wooooaaah-hoo’ backing vocals here there and everywhere. As electro-pop goes, it’s flimsy and ultra-lightweight. The tribal drumming on the carnivalesque ‘Beware the Dog’ is incongruous and affected, and ‘If You Wanna Stay’ might sound like an ultimatum, but he sounds like he’s skipping for joy against the bounciest disco pop backing I’ve heard in a long time.
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The title track shamefully rips off Faith No More’s ‘Be Aggressive’ before spiralling into some light funk electro action slush. The darker connotations of a title like ‘Live This Nightmare’ also remain unvisited and unfulfilled and again, the scariest thing about it is just how buoyant they sound, exuberantly singing about a desperate breakup. 5ive had more grit than this. Hell, Steps had more grit than this.
The slower ‘Thread the Needle’ carries more emotional weight, both in the vocal delivery and the strings that drape around it.
The Griswolds make PWL-era Kylie sound like Metallica and that’s far from impressive.
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