It's doubtful that Lawrence Rudd and Rupert Lyddon will ever be household names. Their band, Grand National, seem the type of act that are resigned to remain under the radar, gradually cultivating a faithful fanbase but never making music that's going to bother the Top 20. Whether it's deliberate or not is contestable; what's certain is that the London duo are unlikely to be fazed by a lack of mainstream success.
Their particular style - easygoing indie reinforced by mellow electronica - was first honed on their quietly-acclaimed 2005 debut Kicking the National Habit, and its successor A Drink and a Quick Decision forges a similar path.
The Grand National sound is one that's distinctly British, although never ostentatiously so. Many tracks are underpinned by a smooth Britrock vibe (the late-New Order-referencing Reason to Hide In, the attitudal, Primal Scream-esque By the Time I Get Home, and the gentle Dirty Vegas-style dance thunk of Close Approximation) - but there are hints of reggae (Going To Switch the Lights On), slo-mo experimentation (Animal Sounds) and even a sleepy piano ballad that someone like James Taylor would love to get their hands on (Part of a Corner).
Musical diversity doesn't always need to be flamboyantly advertised in order to have an effect. Yet although A Drink and a Quick Decision falls prey to dreaded dissimilarity on a couple of occasions, there's enough here to keep any discerning listener with enough patience interested for its duration. Certainly worth a punt.
