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Pop goes the world
Grandevolution’s “Covered in Roses”
By
Brian Goslow
If
you haven’t already heard the melodic and sometimes hard-bouncing
pop sound of Grandevolution, you’d think a group with musical tastes
as diverse as Butch Walker, The Beastie Boys, Black Sabbath, and
Radiohead could never work.
 The
pleasant surprise is the three-piece group who hails from Uxbridge
and Lincoln, R.I., are making some of the most enjoyable pop music
to come from these parts in years. “We try to capitalize on the
differences in influences,” says guitarist Mike Gendron, who calls
the group’s sound “a mix of modern alt. rock, punk, and folk-rock.
All influences do lead back to the same roots in rock ’n’ roll
history. It’s all about getting closer to the
source.”
Vocalist Sarah Kollett, who currently plays bass (after
starting out as the group’s second guitarist) and drummer Scott
Kenyon complete the band’s lineup, which formed at the end of 2001.
A self-titled three-song EP released last year features the spacey
“Covered in Roses,” a song that earned them a “Best Song” nomination
in the 2005 Providence Phoenix Music Poll; it’s also the
group’s first video. It was filmed at the Mendon Drive-In, as well
as along the streets and backroads of Millbury and Uxbridge. Drummer
Kenyon produced it. “He had the camera sitting on his dashboard
while driving around,” Kollett says. “He was getting some footage so
he could learn how to make a video.” You can view it on the group’s
Web site.
Grandevolution captures the high-energy fun of Letters to
Cleo and The Cardigans at their brashest on “Silhouette,” while
“Second Wind High” holds traces of the best pop music from the ’60s
to the present. On the latter, Kollett sings, “You’ll pass me by
until perfection from a first glance comes to you” — tackling the
all-too-frequent problem of people who throw their hopes, dreams,
and fantasies onto others based on their looks and nothing
else.
“When people are looking for a mate, they are usually
attracted to physical characteristics,” Kollett says. “When I wrote
that, I was thinking that I wasn’t good enough — pretty enough — for
the person I was interested in. Maybe that person would never find
someone perfect on the outside. But maybe if he looked twice, I
would’ve been perfect for that person.” None of her songs are about
actual relationships. “These songs are about wanting something
unattainable,” Kollett says.
Her songs don’t chase you away by drowning you in her
personal sorrows. Whether it’s the angelic sound of her voice on
“Covered With Roses” or the upbeat playing of the group’s
instruments, they sound like good-time songs — until you read their
lyrics. “All the songs on the three-song CD are sad,” she says. “I
had this friend who inspired me to continue with my music at a point
when I was ready to give up. I was backstage at a Fuel concert one
night and he said he’d be right back but he never came back. A short
while later I found out he had died.”
Along with regular local visits to The Lucky Dog and Ralph’s,
Grandevolution has played The Continental in New York City. On
stage, they lose some of their pop edge. “We are a little more raw
live,” Kollett says. “I would say more rock.”
 Kollett attends The New England Institute of Art and
Communication, where she studies music business management. She sent
out “hundreds of packages” of the latest CD to college and
commercial radio stations. That led to the band being invited to
perform on WAAF’s “Bay State Rock” and WHJY’s “SoundCheck.” They’re
also heard on Web radio broadcasters “Spider Bite Radio” from New
Hampshire and “The 40,000 Volts Show” out of England.
Along with this Friday’s show at The Compound in Fitchburg,
Grandevolution’s summer schedule includes working on their first
full-length CD and playing shows in Attleboro, Taunton and Warwick,
R.I. “We just keep trucking along — there’s never a dull moment,”
Gendron says. “There’s a good amount of motivation and everyone has
a strong passion for music.
Brian Goslow may be reached at
bgoslow@worcestermag.com.
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