On the Australian trio’s fourth full-length, they do practically everything right; but nothing really “right on.” Grassed Inn is a charming record full of steady, stretched out rock songs. Throughout a protracted 45 minutes, Blank Realm’s influences float safely between the shambolic shores of Flying Nun New Zealand and the more straightforward, earnest sounds of Australia in the 1980s (The Triffids, The Go-Betweens). Anyway you slice it, Grassed Inn is a bruised fruit, but damn if it don’t taste sweet. For the listener (and hopefully for the band), it functions as a nice pit-stop on the way to greener pastures.
This article appears in Feb 20-26, 2014.