Within the first minute of "Unclaimed Song #1", you'll begin to realize that Grand Unified Theory is probably the most thoughtful record you'll hear all year. Vocalist Jerry Chen begins by confessing "I want to try to fill / the lines to this unclaimed song" in a quiet self-conscious way that evokes memories of Elliott Smith. It's as if he's pulling the curtain back and revealing that it's all just a show, this song-writing gig. Still, he adds, "well here's my stab at it / does this seem to work?", letting you know that he's doing his best and enlisting your help in making this something special. And he's doing it with full disclosure.

Smart song titles and even smarter compositions fill the album. Each song is assembled so well that even on your first few listens, the songs seem familiar, and you can anticipate their changes and fills. That feeling continues through "Epilogue (Part 1 and 2)" and "Remarks Made During the Final Interview", as Chen sings of the futility so prevalent in his generation, again drawing you in as an accomplice. It's that same sudden bout of existentialism that grips so many upon graduation, but the poignancy with which Chen delivers his words and the dead-on reading with which the rest of the trio accompanies them sets GUT apart.

"That Beautiful Parade Down Market Street" chronicles a march down San Francisco's main thoroughfare, replete with Julie Macon's Patriotic drum roll. The lyrics take you through a marcher's inner monologue as he is swept up in the spectacle of clashing beliefs. This confessional honesty makes its way into each of GUT's songs, and if you don't feel empathy in those words, you at least have to appreciate their depth.

Of course, you'd probably expect as much from an MIT PhD student, an infant care nurse and a Berkeley grad who majored in cognitive science. And no, Grand Unified Theory aren't doing anything all that different -- just drums, guitars, keyboards and a voice. The difference is in how well they do it.
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this CD gave me goose bumps all over.  If you like bright eyes then you’ll love this.
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Hey. You know those kids down the street? Did you know they have a band? What? Yeh, they're pretty good. Guess what, their band has a name, and it's Grand Unified Theory, and they ARE pretty good. On their debut disc Berkeley's own GUT manages to capture all the fun, closeness and hope that hearing your friends play their own songs always elicits. It's nice to hear a disc full of songs and not wonder what the higher purpose was behind the making of the album. They wanted to play some songs, they wanted to write some songs, and they wanted to do it well. And so they did. Displaying a minimalist straight forward sound that never appears to front or trick you with the latest production trick, you get 10 honest to god rock tracks. Who knows how you feel about the term or concept of “emo”, but undoubtedly GUT will be labeled emo. If you hate emo, don't let the tag fool you. With GUT you get some steady drums to carry you through the songs, especially on “That Beautiful Parade Down Market Street” where snare drums carry you high above fuzz guitar. With GUT, you also get the guarantee of jangly guitar and some soothing bass. The best part, is they never hide their vocals or try to wash them out. Jerry Chen's plaintive honest voice always hovers lightly above the mix, and gives you the kind of sweet lyric you wish you'd written. For example, at the end of “She Turned on Him/On On/Him”, where after explaining a mess of a relationship, where nothing works out, and they turn on each other he makes the statement, “Our intentions are a hidden mess, just like theses lyrics.” A warm disc for a cold winter.
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Now I may not know much about science, but that doesn't stop me from drinking heavily and spouting off like I was Stephen Hawking or somebody in a lab coat. Grand Unified Theory, in addition to being some scientific thing I'm too lazy to search out on the Internet, is also a pretty damn good band. Recorded in their apartment in Berkeley, the trio's debut album sounds like a slightly more stable Connor Oberst fronting Versus. For science geeks and cretins alike, Grand Unified Theory is some good stuff.
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