Matt and Kim- Grand (Album Review)

My fist time seeing this duo was when they ran through Times Square naked. I’m talking about their video for “Lessons Learned”, of course. The video caught my eye, but the catchy song had me replaying it. The next time I heard a song from them was in a Bacardi commercial for “Daylight”. They even have another song (“Good Old Fashion Nightmare”) used in the commercial for a new show. This was all enough for me to decide to give this group a shot.

I’m not familiar with Matt and Kim’s first album, but if it is anything like this album, then I am in no rush to hear it. Don’t get me wrong, this is by no means a bad album; it just doesn’t have enough there for me to call it a great album. Go and listen to the three songs I mentioned earlier, and that’s pretty much what to expect from the entire album. They seemed to play it safe by making all the songs sound similar. Most of the album has the same happy-go-lucky, feel-good vibe to it. As far as the sound of it goes, its very simple beats that consist mainly of drums, a piano, and hand claps. Some beats even seem hip-hop inspired. Matt sings on the songs and he has an interesting voice that fits the music.

Another problem is that the album is about 30 minutes long. It feels like its over before it even begins. If you’re going to make an album that short, it needs to be great (see: Nas-Illmatic).

On a more positive note, it is also a catchy album; but that seems to be all there is to it though. I can see many people (including myself) listening to it for a couple of weeks because it’s so catchy. The problem is I don’t see myself listening to this album after about month.

Even though their sound is overused on this album, I like their sound. They are a breath of fresh air to music because they are so different. the problem is that I don’t see that freshness lasting very long. I want badly to give this a higher score because of this but this album is mediocre/good at best. It is definitely worth a listen though. At least Youtube their singles.

Best songs: Lessons Learned, Good Old Fashion Nightmare, Daylight
Score: 6.5/10 (5 is average on my scale)
Download or Buy: Download