American Grandma
Rare Knives of Light
SELF-RELEASED
If it seems like everyone’s playing in the slowcore sandbox lately, it may have something to do with lo-fi purveyors of spaced-out rock Duster’s ballooning popularity with Gen Z. Lackadaisical, threadbare rock has a renewed appeal in 2023. And although Jensen Keller’s pensive sounds as American Grandma are often slow as molasses, it would be inaccurate to draw a parallel to today’s major slowcore acts. Keller’s approach is singular, stark, confessional, and experimental, and on new LP Rare Knives of Light, American Grandma’s meandering tunes stun listeners to silence with their might.
On Rare Knives, Keller’s reverberating vocals and oscillating guitar lines produce a hypnotizing post-rock experience with a hint of outlaw country designed less to generate a persona and more so to betray experiences of tension and isolation best understood under the boundless western sky. Keller’s delivery is sincere and disarming, reminiscent of collaborator and fellow Rocky Mountain slowcore artist Midwife, transcending the individuality of the singer’s experiences and inviting listeners to map their own onto the sounds and sensations he produces.
Take “Second Spring”: over a sonorous, plodding guitar, Keller confesses: “I’ll always feel guilty for being the difference between / What was and what could have been.” The guilt that comes from the what-ifs of life is universal, even if the next line, “We could have gone to Oregon,” is specific to Keller. To the listener, “Oregon” can stand in for whatever scenario we opted out of that wound up making all the difference.
Where icy sensations throughout Rare Knives of Light suggest a sense of desolation, Keller himself doesn’t linger in feelings of utter hopelessness. On aptly named “Hope Loop,” Keller recounts the moments where “rare knives of light”—or glimpses of something more promising to come—pierced through the doldrums to assure him that the best is yet to come. Rare Knives has plenty of these moments, spaces where Keller’s sometimes-brutal honesty brings with it a tinge of pain, but a broader conceit of beauty. Dreamy vocals, cycling guitars, and stark harmonies make up the bulk of the record, lulling listeners into Keller’s emotionally distinct universe. It’s a broad, transfixing listen.
