Grammatics - Murderer

The third single from Leeds-based band Grammatics’ self-titled debut album shows that the band are quite a versatile bunch. There are no angular guitar riffs here like in ‘Shadow Committee’. Even the structure of the song is quite straightforward, and as any fan of the band knows, it’s not often you see the words ‘Grammatics’ and ‘straightforward’ in the same sentence.

We make no understatement when we say that ‘Murderer’ belongs to drummer Dominic Ord. His inventive drum pattern draws you in right from the start, and as it unfolds over three minutes, the watertight rhythm section of Ord and bassist Rory O’Hara hold things together perfectly. Frontman Owen Brinley has marked himself out as quite a lyricist, and he delivers some notable lines here, such as, ‘My heart beats out my ribcage / My lungs are burst black balloons / Nothing’s ever seemed uncertain, as everything is now.’ While Brinley’s vocals are like Marmite (you either like them or you don’t), his performance here is definitely one of his best.

A more laid-back song than most others we’ve heard from Grammatics thus far, it would seem that ‘Murderer’ is signals the end of an era, as the band, while not yet having made any official announcement, have hinted that ‘Grammatics’ is being laid to rest soon as they start work on new material for an EP release, due to see the light of day before the end of the year. While we may have preferred a livelier track as what looks to be the final single from the album, such as the thundering ‘Rosa Flood’, this is an excellent song nonetheless.