Many of their songs are truly one of a kind; the dueling guitar parts have their own unique sound, and the often garish costumes worn by frontwoman Haley Bonar are certainly distinctive. However, the one trait that most sets Gramma's Boyfriend apart from the band members' other musical projects might be this: It's nothing personal.
"It's the one thing we all do that's mainly just for the fun of it," guitarist Jacob Hanson explained of the quintet, which celebrates the release of its second album Friday at Icehouse in south Minneapolis.
Added Jeremy Ylvisaker, the arty post-punk group's other resident guitar wiz, "Especially for Haley, so much of her life is wrapped up in the music she makes under her own name. We can all kind of get outside ourselves in this band."
They certainly outdid themselves with "Perm." The 11-song collection arrived Oct. 9 via Georgia indie imprint Graveface Records and instantly confirmed that Gramma's Boyfriend is to be taken more seriously.
Granted, between the cute band name and sometimes goofy live shows, the group's reputation as something of a novelty act wasn't unfounded.
That's even how it was initially viewed by its members, who also include bassist Mark Erickson (Cloak Ox) and drummer Luke Anderson (Rogue Valley) in addition to Ylvisaker (Alpha Consumer, the Suburbs) and Hanson (Actual Wolf, the Pines). The latter three instrumentalists also regularly back Bonar's solo ventures.
"We were definitely lighthearted about it at first, both in our approach and certainly in our time commitment," said Hanson, recounting how the band was born by them all "going off" during rehearsals behind Bonar's "Golder" album in 2010.
"We were playing these punky guitar riffs and weird jams to sort of blow off steam, and Haley just started playing along."
