I can’t remember which song exactly – I think it was Wet Hair – but Japandroids managed to inspire a mini mosh pit of sorts at their show on Friday at the hot-and-uncomfortable-as-hell Clubhouse in their opening slot for The Walkmen.
It’s unlikely Heavenward Grand Prix, the third single in the band’s five-part 7-inch series of previously unreleased material, will inspire such self-inflicted body bruising. By Japandroids’ standards, Heavenward takes a bit of a mid-tempo breather from their usual frantic pacing.
Yet it’s still not hard to imagine the song – like Art Czars and Younger Us before it in the 7-inch series – fitting in on Post-Nothing, the debut album whose writing sessions birthed these tracks. At just eight songs, Post-Nothing probably had room to take on another song or two. But given the duo’s minimal aesthetic, some tough cutting-room decisions were likely made because none of these tracks in the 7-inch series feels like obvious throwaway material.
You can pre-order the Heavenward Grand Prix 7-inch, which includes a cover of PJ Harvey’s Shame on the B-side, at Polyvinyl’s website.
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