Gray Matter are a punk band from Washington, D.C. that formed in 1983, broke up in 1986, got back together in 1990, broke up again in 1993, and played a one-off show in 2008. They're often regarded as being one of the founding "emo" bands as a part of "Revolution Summer", alongside Rites of Spring, Embrace, Beefeater, etc. They, like the bands mentioned, began to progress and experiment with the hardcore sound that the D.C. scene pioneered just a few years before. They retain the energy and intensity put into every second of every song, but are much tighter and value melody over sheer speed (though they are still quite fast-paced). These melodic sensibilities are evident in every aspect of the band, and become more evident the more their career lasted: the lyrics have more of a flow to them and touch upon personal subjects, the vocals are cleaner and actually sung, the bright, duelling guitars play off of each other (especially on
Thog), the bass lines are clean and rhythmic, and the drums are played with some sense of skill. I don't know, they're just a really good band, one of my favourites from this era, and just do what they do really well.
1. Retrospect
2. Oscar's Eye
3. Fill A Void
4. Give Me A Clue
5. Gray Matter
6. Caffeine Blues
7. Crisis And Compromise
8. Flash In Time
9. Phobias
10. I Am The Walrus (The Beatles cover)
Take It Back (1985)
1. Chutes & Ladders
2. Burn No Bridges
3. Walk The Line
4. Take It Back
5. 4. A.M
6. Head
1. Bite The Bit
2. October
3. Shiver Boy
4. Slow Grind
1. Thog
2. Second Guess
3. The Disinclined
4. Bite The Bit
5. Song In Threes
6. I've Just Seen A Face (The Beatles cover)
7. Killing Direction
8. October
9. Snare
10. Slow Grind
11. Smoking Hole
12. Drain