Grand Prix - The Speed of Sound

Rating: * * * *

Wellington quartet Grand Prix have gone from sounding like a spaghetti western soundtrack to full-blown Clint Eastwood-style on their fourth album.

There's a steely swagger to opener and ultimate road trip song Travelling Companion; No Particular Place To Go smoulders along with a beefy bass and ragged drums; and best of all is the brazen, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club strut to the eternally cool Town of Sound.

It's not surprising the album is, in band leader Andrew McKenzie's words, "a bit heavy" with even more weight given to guitarist/organ player Adam Ladley and bass player Nato Hickey, the one-time bandmate of Pip Brown (aka Ladyhawke) and the bloke responsible for Fly My Pretties' heaviest songs like Let's Roll and Nato's Theme.

Not all the songs are laden with this newfound rocky heaviness: Through is sweet and wholesome; on In My Book and Music Date you can't help but marvel at McKenzie's voice, which conjures up a meeting of Bob Dylan and Lou Reed; and the bilingual El Baile de la Calaca (translation: The Dance of the Skeletons) will have you longing to shake your arse and down tequila shots somewhere south of border.

Grand Prix are also one of this country's best bands to drive to - especially along somewhere like the Desert Road. Let's hit the road.

Scott Kara