This is the kind of record I wait for every year. Inevitably it arrives, like last year's Tiger's Blood, 2023's The Window or 2022's God Save the Animals, with enough teaser singles to have me fixated before spring's end; Seattle quintet Great Grandpa were just as generous with this year's Patience, Moonbeam, doling out five tracks ahead of the full-length release, starting the year off with "Junior" on January 8.
That song kept me company well into the year, with its twee alt-country unfurling to bristle the hairs on my neck as I would trudge through Toronto's uncharacteristically snowy winter to whatever social commitment had been promising enough to drag me out of hibernation.
Then came the transformative "Ladybug," a song that surprises at every turn — restorative and hopeful, its AutoTuned introductory vocals signalling it as more than just another pre-release single right out of the gate: with multi-instrumentalist Pat Goodwin performing at peak, it's the creative centrepiece of an album that grasps at the band's furthest-reaching arrangement sensibilities.
From those two tunes outward, the remaining 10 tracks spiral through genre and flourish in each dabble. More than emo, more than alt-country, Great Grandpa have made something completely their own by never shying away from exuberance or pain. There is so much contained inside this album, and at least one song for everyone.
For fans of Waxahatchee, Ratboys, Alex G, the I Saw the TV Glow soundtrack, Free Cake for Every Creature, ladybugs, etc.
