the grates new album 'teeth lost hearts won'

yeah so okay.back when i first heard the grates i thought they were shite coz they sounded like sugarhigh prepubescent little girly girls trying to sound like the yeah yeah yeahs (greatest band of all time, i would die for u karen o!). then i went to see them at spleandour in the grass 06, and was completely and utterly blown away by their energy and rah-rah funky fun. so okay. so after spleandour, i bought theif first album 'gravity wont get you high' and then we were cool with each other (cue: no more dissing them to the high heavens calling them rip offs when i was drunk off my face watching rage on late nite tv).

2 years later the inevitable has to happen: the second album from them comes out entitled a cute 'teeth lost, hearts won'. and do i like it?

weellll......

i dunno lah.i mean, its a great, solid album, and their opening track 'burn bridges' is one of the most fun singles i've heard over this year. but the grates was about FUN, something i dont always get in this album. and while they have a lot of poignant moments here and sound much more grown up with more thoughtful lyrics and more musical layers, i still click the 'next' button on my ipod quite a lot.

in an interview, patience did say that it was a much harder process making this second album compared to the first, trying to pick and choose the right tracks coz everyone loved their previous effort (even the title track didnt make it in). but life is like that, isnt it?u do something great and fantabulous, and society jusdges u with higher and higher standards that almost set u up to fail.

see?this is why im mediocre and happy.