Artist: Gram Rabbit
Album: Cultivation
Label: Stinky Records
Tracks: 12
Length: 42:38
Review By: Jacob Gehman

The four people who make up Gram Rabbit must have read Watership Down too many times as kids. It has somehow warped their brains to where they have this weird rabbit obsession. Some artists need some sort of... something... with which to focus creative energy on. Apparently in Gram Rabbit’s case this “something” turned out to be rabbits. It is vaguely reminiscent of a Monty Python sketch about people who need to dress up in mice costumes. Only, in this case we see Jesika von Rabbit in a dashing pair of Halloween bunny ears and some poor mopey soul with a bowed head in a full blown “are we sure we’re not the Flaming Lips?” rabbit costume on the cover.

With this weird rabbit kitsch I was, for better or worse, expecting something a lot more twee or Flaming Lips-esque (read: weird) than what Gram Rabbit actually does. Instead they are rather chameleon-esque, jumping around from genre to genre, while keeping a fairly steady sonic palette. “Angel Song” starts out as a nice country poke with a vague Kill Bill spaghetti western feel to it. Whereas “Bloody Bunnies,” the prior song, has more of an electronica/dance feel to it, with that Rah Bras sense of rock.

While many artists come off feeling scattered when they try and pull of multiple genres, Gram Rabbit somehow allows everything to feel like Gram Rabbit. This is probably due to Jesika von Rabbit’s vocals, which are distinct without distracting from the band as a whole. The way her voice combines with some of the electronic elements brings to mind CoCo Rosie, without the minimalism.

“Jesus & I” may be my favorite songs on the album. It’s got a great carnival merry-go-round feel to the music. That gets topped off by some crystal clear, whimsical vocals which would not feel out of place on an Eisley album. Both are elements that I love, and both get pulled off very well, intentional or not.

Overall the sound of the album is very bright, but there seems to be a thread of sorrow that runs through each song. The contradiction is great and allows for some interesting tensions to evolve. The lyrics of the album are fairly simple and don’t do too much to drive songs or evoke emotions, but they give various contexts that can enhance the listening experience.

If you enjoy artists like CoCo Rosie, Rah Bras, or The Flaming Lips, do give this a try. Especially if fictional books about rabbits really floats your boat.