The Organ were a short lived, almost all female group from Vancouver, BC. They broke up at the peak of their buzz but left a solid record behind. Grab That Gun is heavily influenced by The Smiths…no matter how much they claim it isn't. Super Johnny Marrish guitar leads and rhythms, super Mozish vocals (though sang by a woman). It's all there. It even has kind of a dark 90's feel to it at times. Check it out.
The Organ– they weren't lying. In fact, there's one right on the first track of their debut album Grab That Gun, buried deep beneath the snappy, melody-bearing picked bass that's the first and most conspicuous indication of where this pipe-driven Vancouver quintet derive their sound. Another tip-off is Katie Sketch's yearning, almost Gregorian vocal delivery. Sulky and chorus-laden, opener "Brother" nods to a lengthy roster of rockers emeritus: Morrissey, Joy Division, the Shaggs, Interpol, Blondie, and the Cure– especially the Cure. But "Brother" is no microwave dinner: It's the Organ's best song, a glistening fresh-caught tuna of spot-on nostalgia that casts the brightest of Grab That Gun's fast-burning rays.
Rarely have I been as excited by eighth notes as I was hearing the opening bars of "Brother" anew. Unfortunately, it's something of a bait and switch: Grab That Gun starts with a bang and rides it for the entirety of its brusque 29 minutes. By the end, it's floundering in pallid melodies, stalled and spent after such a brief time. For many bands, Smiths and Joy Division invocations are about cheap thrills and scoring easy points. The Organ's enthusiasm is a bit more sincere– the band affect their moody aesthetic as if it were a genetically inherited disorder.
1. The Organ - Brother (4:01)
2. The Organ - Steven Smith (2:06)
3. The Organ - Love, Love, Love (3:32)
4. The Organ - Basement band song (4:12)
5. The Organ - Sinking hearts (2:10)
6. The Organ - A sudden death (2:54)
7. The Organ - There is nothing I can do (2:35)
8. The Organ - I am not surprised (2:44)
9. The Organ - No one has ever looked so dead (1:57)
10. The Organ - Memorize the city (3:10)
11. The Organ - Instrumental (0:37)