Grant Jesse Prosser – Museum Of Wrenches

Grant Jesse Prosser – Museum Of Wrenches – EP Review

Heck yeah Museum Of Wrenches!  Is there a better type of museum?  What’s YOUR favorite type of museum, and why do you think it’s soooooooooooo much cooler than the kind with wrenches in it?

Some of that good ol’ relatable Canadian stuff eh?  Nothing like a “Frozen January” to kick things off in a February review of an EP released back in August of last year.  Anyhow.  The jokes on YOU Grant Jesse Prosser, because I’d happily listen to “Frozen January” in ANY of the months on the calendar!  SHOTS FIRED!  No recovering from that comment…I may as well keep up this full frontal attack.  Umm…yeah…I mean…I like it honestly…it’s curiosity inducing, a bit mysterious, maybe a little melancholy, and that’s pretty much all my jam when it comes right down to it.  ”Frozen January” probably isn’t gonna be the track that makes you jump up and down with excitement, but it should be the kind of song that draws you in to listen to more, shouldn’t it?  It’s not really a typical beginning at all when you think about it, and shouldn’t that be like…at least somewhat intriguing to your musical minds?  Presumably, if you happened to start this EP on track one of all tracks (apologies, non-conformists), I’d have to assume that you’d hear “Frozen January” and want to find out where this audible story goes from there, yes?  So let’s do that…we can go together if you like…pack your metaphorical bindle & stick…let’s get going, shall we?

“Forest Smoke” opens up like it’s made of fantasy novels and Willy Wonka-esque dream sequences…and I’m here for it!  Got the homie Nate Jacobucci on the piano…that’s a nice touch, and given their history together as musical cohorts over there in Manitoba, playing in bands like Campfire Sigh and Butterfist Funhouse, I’m assuming that’s always a call that Grant can make and know that Nate will be there with bells on to lend his time & talents.  And LISTEN to this party music that they’re makin’ together, will ya?  Okay – this might be music made for a different purpose…they might have just been goin’ for something completely beautiful this time around, and here we are, with “Forest Smoke” providing precisely that.  No joke though folks, right now, as of track two, I’m inclined to feel like I’m gonna grow quite attached to this record…I love these kind of sonic soundscapes…a track like “Forest Smoke” is truly like an audible painting you can see in your mind.  Does that picture have a forest, or smoke?  Maybe, maybe not!  I’m not here to judge your mind-paintings okay?  Mainly because I wouldn’t want you to judge mine either.  Sadly, I can only draw stick people in real life, but what’s even sadder is that my imagination is no more creatively capable than that…I can only draw stick people with my mind tools as well.  We all have our limitations…chances are I just have a whole lot more than you do.  I digress.  “Forest Smoke” is a genuinely mesmerizing, time-stopping type of tune where you just wanna sit and live in the moment and block out the rest of the hustle and bustle of the world around you so that you can listen to these remarkably delicate sounds with the full strength of both ears.  For a song that’s 7:22 in length, I’d have taken a cut of “Forest Smoke” at twice its current size and never complained…it’s a fascinating, sensory instrumental cut that’s quite likely going to be a permanent part of the soundtrack to my LIFE from here.

It’s just clearly good stuff all around.  “Bird’s Eye View” is further proof that Grant is authentically gifted in the art of composition, and knows how to make instrumental tunes exceptionally engaging.  Truly, I dig what this dude does y’all…and I wish that I got more albums like these sent my way than I end up getting.  Instrumental music is a tough road to hoe and a hard sell to the masses, always…so it simply ends up being a rarer commodity is all, but more precious and dear to us dedicated listeners as a result.  I like the humble, majestic nature of a song like “Bird’s Eye View” that captures both the serenity of peace in isolation, and the grandeur of the wide-open world in all its awe-inspiring glory at the same time.  I love the calm in the pace, I love Grant’s sound selection and how each element is introduced to us through his carefully composed ideas…you can tell this dude is one of those people that eats, sleeps, and breathes music…even in a quaint little tune like “Bird’s Eye View,” his passion & professionalism ring true, loud, and clear.  The guy’s attention to detail is completely on-point, and his material seems to need nothing more than exactly what it already has.  This album speaks directly to our hearts and minds.

And then there’s “Peace Towers,” which…kinda comes outta left field a bit.  I’m not gonna outright accuse Grant of becoming fully fixated on that one sound that dominates this particular track (he knows the one, and trust me, you’ll know it too), but like…well…okay, maybe I am accusing him of that, because how could I not?  I feel like he really hasn’t left me much other choice.  For nearly two minutes straight we’re listening to the bwoooow-wowww sound served up in admittedly, a decent variety of ways…but it’s still the bwooowww-wowwww sound that we don’t really get a chance to shift our focus away from until the final thirty seconds of the song when it just peaces out and leaves us to the acoustic vibes at the end.  Which is…like…yeah…I mean…it’s a welcome switch by that point, you feel me?  Look, I get it…we all get new equipment, plug-ins, instruments, toys…and sometimes you merely stumble onto a sound that seems amazing at the time…and you want to get that sucker in a song somehow…and here we are.  As I listened to Museum Of Wrenches over the course of this week, I can say with certainty, “Peace Towers” never really grew on me any more than how I originally felt about it, which was largely perplexed and a little confused I guess.  Up until this point, the EP has such an unstirred calm to it that really felt like Prosser had locked into a moment in music that was destined to be a flawless listen.  While I don’t think I’d go as far as to say anything is really ever a full-on mistake when it comes to what people create, I don’t know if I felt like I was fully convinced that “Peace Towers” belonged to this set of recordings like the rest of the tracks do, you feel me?  It’s still got some merit to it…and I dig that it’s unique for sure…but yeah…didn’t seem quite as involved or as thought-out as the first half of the EP was, and Grant’s choice of which sound to go with in the lead felt like it’s gonna be a mighty big stretch for the average listener to make.  That’s the thing about incredibly different & highly defined sounds – when you love them, they’re your best friend, and they’ll turn an entire idea from good to great…but when we don’t connect to something we hear, that can become a song’s biggest threat to its longevity.

I will say this…”Peace Towers” wasn’t enough to deter me from continuing to listen…and heck, at times, I’d even say I enjoyed it occasionally.  As “Museum Of Wrenches (Part 2 & 3)” began, I felt like we were still on track for this EP being my favorite experience with Prosser’s solo music to-date.  Was there ever a part one?  Ahhh, the mysteries of life dear readers, dear friends…we don’t just get an answer to every question we’re ever gonna have, you know?  I’m only curious because I like part two & three so much – if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have even brought it up.  You never know until you ask though right?  Maybe there’s a part one out there somewhere on a disk drive, feeling unloved…that’d be a crime.  Or maybe there’s like, eighteen volumes of “Museum Of Wrenches” and we’re only privy to two – we just DON’T KNOW!  I suppose it’s fair to say that you can hear the audible split between what we’d have to assume is part two and part three in this particular tune…and I reckon I’m partial to the first part, part two, and not as much towards the second part, part three.  I do, for the record, like both…I just feel like they each have their own identity and vibe goin’ on.  Part two seems to invoke more of that curious/mysterious sound with a bit of ominous beauty added into the mix, making the music once again seem as big as our entire country is…and part three feels a bit more closed-in & experimental I guess.  As individual pieces of music, I think they’re great!  As to why they needed to be attached to each other…I think that’s a question well above my pay grade…I couldn’t tell ya as to why Grant made that decision and/or why that made sense for him to do.  I’m not necessarily opposed to it, but it did seem like a strange pairing and that both tracks might have slightly benefitted from being on their own.  Like the ol’ conjoined twins at a circus sideshow, they might like to assume each doesn’t need the other, but cleave’em at the halfway point and you’ll often find out that wasn’t really the case at all.  I dunno…I guess I just feel like the first half (part two) of “Museum Of Wrenches” had a song & an idea present & accounted for, whereas the second half (part three) was more like a collection of joyful science fiction noises.  Ultimately, I feel like we should probably have some autonomy over choosing what we feel like we wanna listen to depending on the mood we’re in, and having these two tracks connected to each other HINDERS OUR FREEDOM in that regard…but I still respect Grant’s creative choices, and wouldn’t argue against it all sounding good.

So!  While I’d assume there’s at least a few of you out there reading this review and wondering about whether or not I feel like this isn’t still the best I’ve heard in Prosser’s solo collection so far…I’ll have to disappoint you by confirming that I still think it IS.  I enjoyed his last record Temporal Autumn when I originally listened to it back in late 2023…but somehow, I feel like he’s got more in this tiny set of six songs that would bring me back to listen on a personal level.  It’s an EP that speaks to me I suppose, and I guess we’d have to conclude that’s all the more impressive given the fact there ain’t a single word to be found upon it.  What’s good about Museum Of Wrenches is sincerely great, and even the couple of spots I’ve scratched my bearded chin to ponder over, they’ve still kept me listening and fully engaged.  Plus, Grant gave this record a stellar ending too with “Jackrabbit Emerges” as its finale…and I should probably mention that before I wrap this up, lest this review not come to its full state of completion.  I would be willing to say that “Jackrabbit Emerges” is right up there with the first…hmm…I’ll go with the first two songs on the album…those three combined I think would be my favorites, with “Bird’s Eye View” pounding on the door like the song form of Fred Flintstone begging Wilma to be let in.  And perhaps it should be, it’s a great freakin’ tune.  That being said, you can either blame me, the critic and listening ear, or you can blame Grant, who created a song that I feel slightly more partial to before this EP was over…I think we’ll both be comfortable with whomever you choose.  I really like the malleable sounds he’s working with on “Jackrabbit Emerges” and how they all feel so bendable as we listen.  When combined with the more bold & stoic elements in the song, and Jacobucci making a return to provide us with a freakin’ glorious turn on the trumpet at the end…I mean…c’mon y’all…you gotta admire how this track plays like the end credits of your favorite mustached 80s TV show in all the right ways.  Quality stuff in this finale without a doubt, and a great reason in itself to return for another spin – this whole EP was well worth the time it takes to listen to me, and I’m willing to bet a great many of you will agree.  It’s artistic instrumental music built with sensory sound you can genuinely feel flow right through you.

Find out more about Grant Jesse Prosser from his official page at Instagram here:  https://www.instagram.com/grant.jesse.prosser

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