Grey People - ​Grey Life

Grey People 

​Grey Life
self-released; 2017

3.4 out of 5

By Dan Weston

Grey People is the combined effort of Tyler Volk, Andy Laszlo, Tommy Muldowney and Jessi G. It started as solo effort for Volk but grew into something more. After distilling a batch of songs down to three they released Grey Life.

The songs are dark often dissonant and have a propensity towards post-punk. Volk utilizes a vocoder or auto tune effect on his vocals. I have mixed thoughts about this and it very subjective. It’s an effect that can quickly lose it's appeal to me. Everything starts to sound like a robot chipmunk effect after a while and thought a mix between natural vocals may have been easier to digest. It’s hard to make out the lyrics and some of the raw human emotion can get lost if the effect is constant.

Up first is “The Falling” which mixes a catchy vocal melodies with dark atmosphere. It’s a pretty fun song and something you can dance to. There is also a good amount of dissonance between the elements which adds to the dark feel of the song. Great start.

Up next is “It’s a Generational Feeling” which  reminded me of a band called The Faint which was underrated band that didn't get enough credit.  It’s a unique post-punk vibe mixed in with some electropop. The last song is called “Like a Ghost” which is a little more subdued and the darkest of the three songs. There is a spoken word section but I couldn't understand what was being said. If you’re going to do this type of thing where it sounds like someone is telling a story people want to hear what is being said. Tools like a compressor and an exciter are your friends in cases like this where the words need to be easily understood.

Grey Life is a lo-fi DIY effort. There are definitely a number of things that could be improved here from the EQ of the instrumentation to the dynamics. That being said i think they did a solid job but would like to see if they can get a boost on their next effort.

I think the band is onto something and with a little tweaking and experimenting could really come into their own. This is a solid foundation with well written songs. I’m looking forward to their evolution.

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