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Gnome-Six Hi Surprise Tower Review

Gnome is a obscure grunge rock band from the mid 90's, taking influence from Mudhoney, and Nirvana, and their own brand of
weirdness, they are brilliant. Raw, static, feedback filled, pop songs. More people should know about these guys. Their debut record Six Hi Surprise Towwer
came out in 1992. I went on a whim and bought the cd based on the fact of one really good song, and the album was outstanding.

The firt track is On The House, which is probably their best known track, filled with hooks,
and very swampy, fuzzy guitars. The chrous of "jesus is a lie" is just brilliant.

The second track, 13 Family, has a strong Mudhoney flavour to it. Upbeat, and punky. Loren Evans voice is almost akin to a more grungy John Rzeznik from the Goo Goo Dolls.

The third track, Up To, starts off a little bluesy, with a soft slowly building lick. This song has a very nice groove to it. Some tambourine adds a nice touch to it. The it explodes on the chorus with the pedals stomped on for full fuzz effect, and a beautifully sung chorus.
As dirty and fuzzy as the guitars are, they're extremely melodic, similar to the aesthetic of Nirvana, but different in a way. A perfect example of how polar opposites work well.

The fourth track Watershed, is kinda slower and dirgier, with a lightly sung vocal. kinda reminds me of something STP would do. Theres hints of Mother Love Bone here, too.

the 5th track, Go Go Go, definitely has a nirvana vibe right out of the gate. with pounding drums and bass, and some controlled feedback
during the verse. Loren Evans voice here is pretty intense. Probably one of my favourite tunes on this record.

The 6th track Peace, starts off with a somewhat 60's sounding guitar lick that sounds like an air siren. Another really good upbeat song,
lots of energy, and anthemic if you will. It is so catchy and probably the most poppy song on the disc so far.

The seventh track, Roadhog, starts off with a nice soft builder, and keeps going, another upbeat, happy sounding song. This track brings to mind
Dinosaur Jr, with hints of Pearl Jam.

The 8th track, Free Toy, starts off with an early Nirvana kinda vibe, then goes into a Mudhoney meets Pearl Jam vibe.
I also hint a little Surf rock influence in their music as well.

The 9th track, Nowonder Child, starts off with a bass line, and it starts off slow, but slowly builds, almost Bush like, but before Bush.
This song is another brilliant tune, with melody and swampy dirty guitars.

The 10ths and final track, Pigroast, almost starts with a Red Hot Chili Peppers kinda riff, and keeps a similar vibe,
with a STP sounding verse, the songs melody kinda makes a euphoric type of feeling sonically, and brings memories and stuff coming
back to you. it fades out at 3:50, and at 4:35, the sound of rain and chirping birds, and the sound of a car crash insues, and laughter.


All in all, there's 10 tracks on this record, all of them are good. There's so much here, and the fact that its so overlooked,
is fucking criminal. This is now officially on my top 10 albums of all time list. It can be hard to find, but if you are a big grunge fan,
it is definitely worth the hunt and the price.




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