Toronto four-piece
Greys have spent the early part of their career refining their lean, ferocious post-punk, peppering their albums with occasional studio adornments, but largely adhering to the tight live unit which they present on-stage. Following a pair of 2016 albums, the excellent Outer Heaven and its full-length companion piece Warm Shadow, the group took a step back and considered their approach. Roughly six years into their career, a significant step in a new direction seemed in order and they decided to stray from their live-in-the-room approach and use whatever tools necessary to gain new ground. While it's far from an abandonment of what came before, 2019's Age Hasn't Spoiled You introduces a multitude of influences and sounds into
Greys' palette and makes for a challenging but overall worthwhile listen. More experimental in tone from start to finish, the distressed instrumental "A440" opens the set, which over 11 tracks veers from Motorik Krautrock and eerie new wave to washed-out indie rock and refractions of the aggressive post-punk style from their earlier releases. Standouts like "Western Guilt" and the progressive two-part "Aphantasia" anchor the album, which occasionally gets lost in its own explorations, but on the whole, this is a welcome evolution for the band. ~ Timothy Monger