Grafton
Blind Horse Campaign – Dead Canary Records

Back in the day when R 'n' R had something to do with music, there were musicians that actually believed that skill and creativity (not to mention fun) were more important than photo ops and wardrobes the size of your average Baltic country. While no one truly knows whether the three Ohioan boys who make up Grafton feel the same, their new album Blind Horse Campaign (Best Title Ever!) pretty much just rocks. From the wonderfully clean and simple blend of the first track "I've Been Lookin'" to the last tasty drop of "Lord Baltimore" (don't know who that is, don't care), this is some (note the cleverness of this critic's linguistic palate) cool shit.

This is the kind of stuff that you throw into the CD player on a Friday night and head for the bars, only to spend fifteen minutes in the parking lot looking like a fool while you rock out in your car to the whole rest of the freakin' album (yes, yours truly did just that). If you have money and like good music, go buy this NOW. Track #6, "The Captain and Big Muskie", is alone worth the price, and you get ten whole other songs as well!

As a matter of fact, you are wasting valuable time just reading this crap when you should be out pickin' this shiny round thing up in your beer and cigarette-stained fingers. As Nanne Tepper of OOR so perfectly put it: "Grafton kicks ass, zo simpel is het eigenlijk!"

That's goddamn straight, Tepper, goddamn straight. —Brandon Whitehead (Posted 6/11/04)