Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on May 2010

Playground Music

Grand Avenue is still one of rock’s best kept secrets. It’s hard to explain why a band that does what Coldplay does (that is, channel U2 and other ’80s stadium rockers) but does it better is still so unknown. Even when frontman Rasmus Walter-Hansen dated supermodel Helena Christensen for a couple of years, it didn’t do much to raise their profile. Perhaps the Danish foursome’s problem boils down to “Björkism”—the expectation that Scandinavian bands have to be kooky (Björk), ethereal (Sigur Rós), or death-metal suicidal (Sentenced). Sounding just like any other rock group that grew up pinching reverb effects from U2 or the funk-rock licks of INXS simply isn’t allowed if you’re a “Nord.” This is a pity, as the atmospherics and ringing, surging waves of guitar on the title track and “Almost Gone” deserve a far wider audience.