House Boat
Processing Complaints
Traffic Street
Admittedly, it took me a little time to get into The Steinways when I first started hanging out amongst the New York pop punk scene – though to be fair, they were still a relatively new band with a lot of local hype around then, which triggers my “I’m not buying it” defense mechanism. But eventually, I got passed that (and, I’m pretty sure they practiced more), and I was a fan. I mention this because with House Boat, I know exactly what I’m getting into, and thusly on board from the start (no pun intended). Also at this point, I’m well aware that Grath and I are on the same page; We both love watching television on Hulu, hate our numerous crappy temp jobs, and have a love/hate relationship with the fairer sex.
While I could jokingly refer to House Boat as “Steinways 2.0”, there’s some truth to it, especially here. You start to notice Grath’s songs branch out more and more, with “DC Showcase” and “The Self-Aware Octopus” speed things up a bit more, and lean a little closer to mid ‘90s Epitaph or Fat Wreck than Lookout and Mutant Pop. Long standing fans won’t be disappointed though – “Payment Plan” is another of what I personally consider Grath’s slower, ‘50s throwbacks, and the other two songs sound like Steinways B-sides (standard lyric content of feeling like you’re going crazy, and they both start in C). It’s a great record – not on account that every song is a classic per se, but the overall quality is still there, and the fact that Grath has been fairly prolific release-wise over the past few years. I like this enough that I’ll publicly own to bugging him about letting me fill in with whatever form of a band he has going on.
- Joe Evans III
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