Grum hails from Edinburgh/Huddersfield, and possessing a name like grum makes it hard for you to foster any immediate affection for him. ‘Grum‘ sounds like some grimy mud-like substance; or by any means, certainly something distinctly grim. I quickly steered my way over to the Urban Dictionary to see what this new-fangled term, ‘grum‘, might be – maybe it’s something really cool I don’t even know about. On looking up grum, it apparently has many meanings (I really ought to get out more and get myself some grum, or, er.. do grum or.. be grum):
1. a piece of gum stuck to the bottom of a school desk, which is rather filthy….sticks to the top of your pants.
2. A type of cheese found in mid-western Asia. Similar in taste and texture to fried halibut.
3. A rat
4. The white pasty discharge found on the labia of an arroused vagina.
These all seem a) disgusting and b) very unlikely contenders for a band name…untill I came upon the definition alleging grum as: “The spontaneous feeling you get when you suddenly feel pumped/hyped/excited and feel like you can do anything. You know the feeling when you get it and it comes for no reason what so ever.”
This final definition is the perfect description of the exuberant feeling that comes from listening to Grum’s fierce tracks. They are pounding, pumping, distortion-driven bangers doused in boisterous excitement. His own track, ‘Go Back’, is filled with the crunching grinding distorted sythn-hooks similar to Does It Offend You, Yeah?’s crunchy racket. It sounds like a motor revved up to blowing point, released and then dropped all over again. Accompanied by bass and heavy noise all round, this is a supercharged experience of full-throttled clamor:
Even better fun, though, is his remix of glam-rockers Love Motel. Love Motel’s lyrics are infectious echoing words, ripe for such a disco-infused electro reworking. More crunching synths, build ups and drops into the cool catchy vocals. The thumping backing is chopped and layered over a very danceable disco tune:
Love Motel – Cosmic Love (GRUM Remix) [pelski highly recommends]
Kissy Sell Out dropped this gem of a remix in his radio 1 show. There is no doubt Kissy has impeccable taste. Late Of The Pier are receiving remix attention like there’s no tomorrow. And that’s not to say there aren’t any good remixes – there are some real tasty ones out there from the likes of C90s, Tronik Youth, The Toxic Avenger and Filthy Few. But this one really gets Pelski’s seal of approval. They spice it up, again, with a bit of disco and some reverberating echoes of the original vocals. And more grinding grooves:
Late Of The Pier – Space And The Woods (GRUM Remix)
A fidgety, chopped up remix next, that adds a little distortion and alot of stuttering to Armand Van Helden’s much-played tune:
Armand Van Helden – You Don’t Know Me (GRUM Remix)
More echoing vocals and fuzzy booming in this remix of Kings Of Leon. A bold move – remixing Kings Of Leon – and they just about pull it off. Clanging crunchiness underscores the orginal’s drum beat, making for an interesting remix. The weakest of Grum’s output so far, though:
Kings Of Leon – On Call (GRUM’s Disco Mix)
Grum probably sounds most alike to Tronik Youth – who are both his contemporaries and friends. Maybe he sounds even better.
Anyway, it’s well grum.
