Tight Grips - Endless Gifts For Me, Myself, And I LP

If you paid attention to what’s happening on the contemporary rock scene, then you’ve probably noticed how many artists and bands deliver some of the finest works this genre has witnessed in decades. Excellent releases are popping up from all parts of the globe, leaving listeners with more than enough material to enjoy and often leaving them in doubt as to which artist or band sounds most amazing. But what about the Balkans, or Croatia in particular? If you’ve been living in the region long enough, you know that Croatia has been an exporter of high-quality sonic works and excellent bands for ages now. Tight Grips are one of those power trios who exemplify how things should be done, and if you deep dive into the core of their sound, you won’t even notice if these folks are arriving from Karlovac or Palm Desert. With “Endless Gifts For Me, Myself, And I,” their latest full-length album released via Geenger Records last year, these highly experienced musicians assured us that the Croatian scene still produces top-notch music worth spinning over and over again. With seven fascinating songs where the entire band shines with brilliant ideas, jaw-dropping musicianship, tremendous experience, boundless knowledge, and more than enough skills, creativity, and talent, “Endless Gifts For Me, Myself, And I” simply carries everything you ever needed from a modern rock album.

By blending some of the finest properties of southern, stoner, blues, and hard rock, Tight Grips found that sweet spot where the band feels the most comfortable, to the point where some of their composition might seem psychedelic, cinematic, and atmospheric. They are masters in creating that engaging, addictive, hypnotic ambient where each vocal harmony, guitar riff, synth work, bassline, and drum beat coats your listening apparatus and leads you on an epic sonic journey. With each upcoming composition, Krešimir Ćurić convinces you to dive even deeper into this material. His soulful, passionate, emotional, and sincere vocal delivery assures you that each new song will be an even greater treat than the previous one. He elevates everything to new heights, commands attention, and guides listeners through this story by seamlessly balancing calm, soothing, relaxing, ethereal chants with more generously distorted yet melodic shouts. His vocal delivery expertly balances low, mid, and high notes with such precision and finesse, emphasizing everything Tight Grips intended to achieve with this material. Besides decorating all the segments and orchestrations, he also contributes more than necessary emotional complexity to those already intricate song structures. His guitar work is also worth praise, as he delivers catchy, memorable, engaging themes, melodies, harmonies, riffs, arpeggiated and regular chord progressions, and many other sonic maneuvers that shape a perfect backdrop for his vocals to shine upon. The ratio of clean, jangly, angular notes and more generously distorted sonic maneuvers makes “Endless Gifts For Me, Myself, And I” even more interesting, and there’s also studio reverb added for a deeper, richer, echoic sound.

Matija Petrunić immensely supports these guitar works by delivering equally impressive basslines and synth. You’ll notice how all those lush synths work together with guitars in creating an expansive, complex yet somehow easy-listening sound, while sometimes acting on their own and offering almost a cinematic atmosphere that definitely works to the advantage of those compositions. Of course, this material wouldn’t sound this good without intricate, vividly hearable, warm-sounding basslines, which in this case, rumble beneath the guitars and synths, contribute heaviness, clarity, and depth, and all of that while acting as a binding element between the mentioned instrumentations and rhythmic patterns. Dominik Hrgić brings all the groove, detail, and pace you need. His exceptional drumming, based upon tastefully assembled and flawlessly performed beats, breaks, and fills, accentuates and elevates all those orchestrations delivered by the remainder of the band, keeps everything in line, and offers steady groove, dynamics, and pace as only rare drummers can do. Each hit of the snare, kick of the bass drum, accentuation on the hi-hat, and splash over the cymbals has its place and purpose in this sonic equation, making this material even more emotional and powerful. As you can see and hear, Tight Grips poured heart and soul into this material, invested all the tools of the trade and cards from their sleeves in order to make this album work in such a mesmerizing way. It’s one of those albums that not only offer standout tracks, but the entire material is a colossal piece of sonic artistry that demands to be spun without break from scratch to finish. Above all, “Endless Gifts For Me, Myself, And I” stands as one of the finest modern rock releases the regional scene has witnessed in recent years, and you should immediately head to your favorite streaming platform or Geenger Records, where you can find this masterpiece on vinyl.