There must be something wrong with me, because I miss the feeling of my ears ringing, of the slight disorientation that comes with flailing your way through a 25 minute set of impossibly loud guitars, biting bass, and sharp-hitting drums. That was my experience when I saw Greys play Brooklyn’s Shea Stadium back in March, and I’ve spent the past two months wanting to re-experience that sense of light-headedness that hit when their set ended. Luckily for me (and for anyone else that’s heard Greys before), the Toronto quartet just dropped the second single from their Carpark debut, If Anything.
“Use Your Delusion” sees the group continue to expand on the post-hardcore interplay that’s characterized their incredibly industrious and aggressive sound thus far. The two guitars are steeped in distortion, playing off each other as perfect complements and signaling in the track’s visceral punch to the gut. Ironically, lead singer Shehzaad Jiwani shouts, “I wish I could play the guitar” right before the chorus barrels into the sort of guitar part you would’ve learned to play on your beginner’s Squier Strat if you actually listened to good music as a kid (just because you can play “Smoke On The Water” doesn’t make it a good song, kid plugged into the oversized Orange stack across from me at Guitar Center).
Lyrically, the song’s about wishing you were anybody other than yourself; musically, Greys get as loud as they’ve ever been. When Jiwani yells, “I wish I could be anybody else/And just go,” you know the rest of the band is in tune with him. “Use Your Delusion” gets loud, crazy, disorienting—all things I’m beginning to associate with Greys as a band with a distinct sound. That and tinnitus. Next time I’m bringing earplugs.
If Anything is due for release on June 17 via Carpark Records.
