The Grates are a trio from Australia who already have support slots with The Go! Team and The Zutons under their belt, and won many friends with their ridiculously bouncy live shows and lead singer Patience Hodgson's kooky charisma.
That kinetic energy is successfully demonstrated on 19-20-20, a contender for single of the year. It's absolutely impossible to sit still while listening to this, the opening guitar riff and bursts of brass grab your attention from the start. Then Patience starts to sing some deliciously odd lyrics about her lover shooting tigers and you're hooked. By the time the chorus comes along, you're bopping round the room like a small child who's just discovered how exciting music can be.
Imagine Yeah Yeah Yeahs on a particularly strong sugar rush or Be Your Own Pet after a diet of pure pop records and you're halfway there. At just over two minutes it doesn't outstay its welcome and is likely to be on 'repeat' setting on your MP3 player for some time to come.
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