Australia is known for its marsupials more than its music, but The Grates are the indie rock little ones stuck in the country's pouch right now. This band's "thing" is cheery, energetic, popped up rock, which comes easy for three music hooligans who have a naturally alluring stage presence. The Grates came along in 2004, after playing in various forms and under a different name every night in Brisbane. There's only three of them making all that noise: Patience Hodgson (always lead singer and sometimes interpretive dancer), John Patterson (guitarist) and Alana Skyring (drummer). They tour like crazy and hang out in Brooklyn when they have some down time stateside.
Pop rock is a genre that loves to play and I am always thrilled when a group comes along that can give pop rock what it needs to succeed. The music of The Grates is all fun and games but they still manage to bring some weight to it, as all rock 'n' rollers should. A lot of people have been comparing them to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs but Karen O is a personal hero of mine and I don't make that comparison lightly. If you like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, you might be into The Grates but that's kind of like saying, "If you like The Beatles, you might be into The Alarmists." They are great—or grate, if you will—but they aren't legendary.
Currently they are touring with Those Darlins, who, in turn, are touring with King Khan & the BBQ Show, so it's been a bit of follow the leader game for the last couple of months. We still get to see the other two at the Triple Rock later this month, but the Aussies are invading early (I just got this mental image of surfers taking hostages in First Avenue).
