{"product_id":"easy-listening","title":"Easy Listening","description":"\u003cp\u003eRinging from hi-fi headphones and blown-out boombox speakers alike comes the overloaded guitar genius of \u003ci\u003eEasy Listening\u003c\/i\u003e, a record of rock n' roll daydreams and terminal boredom, and 2nd Grade's long awaited second LP. Like a blue slushy on a hot day, \u003ci\u003eEasy Listening\u003c\/i\u003e is a sweet respite. Like the Blue Angels touching down on the Las Vegas Strip, \u003ci\u003eEasy Listening\u003c\/i\u003e is impossible to ignore. And like a janitor mopping up beer on the floor of the Hollywood Palladium in 1972, hours after the Rolling Stones have finished Ventilator Blues and climbed onto the bus, \u003ci\u003eEasy Listening\u003c\/i\u003e knows the glory and cost of escapism, abandon, and the soul of rock n roll. Philadelphia's 2nd Grade (Peter Gill, Catherine Dwyer, Jon Samuels, David Settle, and Fran Lyons) is a band both obsessed with and worthy of rock stardom, and \u003ci\u003eEasy Listening\u003c\/i\u003e proves their status as virtuosos of the power pop renaissance.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSonically and lyrically, \u003ci\u003eEasy Listening\u003c\/i\u003e pays tribute to a guitar lineage linking the Stones to the Flamin' Groovies, to Redd Kross and Guided By Voices. With its spiralling hooks and hand-clapped quarter note beat, lead single Strung Out On You sounds like an alternate reality post-Radio City Big Star cut. In 2nd Grade's world, music history is a prism, not a linear progression. Famous teens transcend time on the outro to Teenage Overpopulation, a shouted cacophony of names including Tommy Stinson, Lizzie McGuire, and Joan of Arc. The line between the love of an audience and that of a romantic partner is blurred on songs like Hands Down and Me \u0026amp; My Blue Angels. Across the album, hi-fi and lo-fi styles splice together; playful references and surreal hints of impossibility build a complex, believable world atop a foundation of simple and sticky melodies that resonate on very first listen. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Double Double Whammy","offers":[{"title":"Blue | LP","offer_id":50529386692939,"sku":"1169549","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/3c351d7d-d188-4af4-a527-97b6066e32b9_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1728064930","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/products\/easy-listening","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}