GRDNS - 'Hydraulic Lover'

GRDNS serve a slice of sludge-pop in new single, ‘Hydraulic Lover’.

GRDNS new track ‘Hydraulic Lover’ is an interesting one. The fuzzy guitar riff that opens the song is sludgy desert doom rock, very much like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. However, once the band kicks in and the vocals begin, there is an indie pop quality to it. Imagine Arctic Monkeys recording a second album with Josh Homme after ‘Humbug’ under the influence of Black Sabbath’s ‘Master of Reality’.

But there is also a psychedelic element to ‘Hydraulic Lover’. The musical interlude is dreamy with lead guitar lines soaked in delay and melody. They almost have an air of Manic Street Preachers’ James Dean Bradfield’s guitar wizardry. It gets spacey too, with flange-like effects coming and going like Hawkwind’s ‘Silver Machine’.

‘Hydraulic Lover’ has a certain infectious sleaze to it, but makes you want to head bang. But it wouldn’t seem out of place on the radio. GRDNS have mastered combining heavy rock with pop for the mainstream whilst still playing with bollocks. If GRDNS keep this up, they could easily compete with Royal Blood.

Words of Matthew Brocklehurst