Grenadine - Triology

(TeenBeat/Simple Machines, 1992)

Grenadine is Mark Robinson from Unrest and Jenny Toomey from Tsunami, an early-’90s, DC-area super-team-up of a coupla the biggest names in a scene that I’ll freely admit I have never been all that into. Which means I can’t do too much as far as contexualizing, no professorial and informative relating of this material back to what Robinson and Toomey were up to in their respective “day job” groups – I’m a DC-dummy by choice, sorry. What I can do, however, is cheerfully and uselessly report the fact that both members get equal time on this drum-free single, with Toomey helming “Fillings” and Robinson taking the lead on “Gillan.” The latter is the better song, as Robinson layers rich guitar strumming and multiple, intricate vocal tracks atop each other to hypnotic, vaguely Eastern effect. Outstandin’! Far less interesting is “Fillings,” a skeletal weepy that does nothing for me until the final minute or so, when the pace quickens and another guitar joins the party; still, I can do pretty well without it in my life. Sure. OK. Fine. Ha. But forget all this. Let’s switch gears and focus on the ever-sexy present, as in: have you heard the spectactularly awful new Chris Cornell record? Because you oughta! It’s a mindblower! Pure money-grab lunacy from the truest of hacks! Yikes!