Sticks and Stones 9.4   February 21, 2002   The Grip Weeds Summer of a Thousand Years Rainbow Quartz (RQTZ056)       Retro sounding power pop is nothing new, but for a band to absorb such influences and have something that actually has power and sounds modern come out the other end, well, that's something, isn't it? The Grip Weeds are such a band. The trippy guitars, tambourines and soaring harmonies recall ghosts of dozens of bands with reissues on Sundazed, but they are only part of the whole package offered by this talented quartet. Brothers Rick and Kurt Reil have crafted a rock solid set of tunes here, the muscular guitars on songs like "She Surrounds Me" giving this a needed bit of heft. This has nice touches throughout, like the harmonica of "Rainy Day #3" or the glockenspiel and sitar on "Changed." A cover of Pete Townsend's "Melancholia" is a nice fit, sounding right at home with the rest of this engaging disc.