Posts Tagged ‘Peter Gill’

2nd GRADE – ” Hit to Hit “

Posted: January 21, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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2nd Grade

This album answers a critical question: What if Robert Pollard wasn’t a heroic drunk, but instead a lovestruck, heart-on-his-sleeve bard? Employing the Guided By Voices’ frontman’s philosophy that every idea is a good one and songs longer than two minutes are bloated messes, this Philadelphia band blows through 24 cuts in a scant 41 minutes on their sophomore album. Fans of Big Star, the Magnetic Fields and Yo La Tengo will appreciate the group’s sensitive song writing approach, which comes in forms of power pop (“Boys in Heat”), alt-country (“100 Hrs”), and lo-fi fuzz rock (“Jazz Chorus”).

For Peter Gill (Friendship, Free Cake For Every Creature), the fearless leader of Philadelphia power-pop group 2nd Grade, being our full, open selves means we can be as sincere as we are sarcastic. New album “Hit To Hit” is about wearing your heart on your sleeve but at arm’s length. It’s about being both earnest and ironic.

Hit To Hit mirrors our multifaceted existence over 24, tiny tracks. Continuing with the fun-size structures of his previous LP, Wish You Were Here Tour (Sleeper Records), the songs act like a collection of short stories. There’s the adolescent, heartbroken tale of “When You Were My Sharona”, the anticipation of making memories on “Summer of Your Dreams”, the first taste of freedom on “My Bike”. While Hit to Hit is absolutely an intricate exploration of the human experience,

Sonically speaking, the songs cover an impressive range of stylistic ground. The sweet, peppy pop-banger “Velodrome” is juxtaposed by the gnarly wailing of “Baby’s First Word” while the sturdy twangs of the Jon-Samuels-sung “100 Hours” bashes against the gentle, ethereally delicate acoustics of “You’re So Cool”. “It almost can’t even hold together because it is so at odds with itself but it does in the end. It’s one group of musicians presenting all these different ideas and directions of songwriting and miraculously, it holds together.” Gill says.

Double Double Whammy Records

SECOND GRADE – ” Hit To Hit “

Posted: July 31, 2020 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
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“We live in a punk-rock world / Oooh-oooh, oooh-oooh,” sings Peter Gill on 2020’s astounding Hit to Hit, which honours both sentiments by sounding like Big Star if Alex Chilton had Bob Pollard’s ADHD, across 24 tunes that only break the two-minute mark on a quarter of the record. Homemade-sounding music is often championed for its roughness-as-realism, but Gill’s band shows how gorgeous and pristine the DIY life can be, albeit by leading with the Beach Boys rockabilly of “W-2,” a tax-form lament for anyone just trying to get their fucking quarantine check. Treat their breakthrough album as a thought-experiment about what would happen if you straightened all the crooked lines in Wowee Zowee and marvel at how much fractured beauty is still there.

2nd Grade have shared the fourth and final single from their debut album Hit to Hit. It’s another short ‘n sweet taste of the humble power pop that defines the album. 

“The record’s latest single “Boys in Heat” clocks in at just over a minute and is incredibly catchy, so it’s easy to find yourself on your fourth or fifth listen without noticing. It’s a confident indie rock jam that exudes carefree summer fun.”

“Dennis Hopper in Easy Rider” is their “September Gurls” for a generation that first experienced “Little Honda” via Yo La Tengo’s I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One. Philadelphia’s 2nd Grade has released the third track from their upcoming full-length Hit to Hit. According to the band, “Dennis Hopper in Easy Rider” is “a rip-roaring earworm about clueless machismo set in the world of the road dog.” It’s insanely catchy.

Second Grade is Peter Gill, Jon Samuels, Jack Washburn, Catherine Dwyer, and Will Kennedy.