The mark of a good band is that their songs sneak up on you. I’ll admit – I headed out to see The Griswolds play Lincoln Hall on Thursday night solely so that I could jam out to “Beware the Dog” live. I lovelovelooooooooove that song. The song that’s become the anthem for crazy exes everywhere (although, fun fact, it’s actually about a friend of the band’s that got hooked on drugs) – I’ve had it on repeat for the past two months.
I realized though, as the Australian foursome made their way through “If You Wanna Stay,” “Mississippi,” “16 Years,” and “Be Impressive” and I jumped, wiggled, and yelled right along with the rest of the crowd, that I actually lovelovelove every single song the band’s produced. Maybe not quite to the same extent as “Beware the Dog” but they’re all solid fun.
Onstage the band is all tattoos, bleached hair, Aussie accents, crackling energy and smiles. And they have good reason to be smiling – the group is blowing up. Just a couple years ago they were opening for fellow Australians San Cisco, and now they’re both headlining the same venues (San Cisco just played Lincoln Hall two nights before). The hype is well deserved – the Griswolds’ infectiously upbeat and addictively dizzying tracks not only makes for electrifying listen recorded, but comes across like a bolt of lightning onstage.
The group also gave a shout-out to fellow Aussie Vance Joy, playing a crooning cover of “Riptide” which the crowd was eating up, crooning right along. The group’s tour continues this summer through the Midwest and west coast – check ‘em out, they live up to the hype.