BLOG: An Albatross, Gang Gang Dance drop new albums
Notes from the Underground
By Aaron Vilk, Blogger
October 22, 2008 | 2 p.m.
Last week, I gave special attention to new releases from local noise and experimental musicians, many of who are quite prolific. This week, I will review two new albums from bands that haven’t had a new release for a few years.
An Albatross: The An Albatross Family Album (Eyeball Records)
Rating: 7 out of 10
An Albatross, the Pennsylvania noisecore sextet that recently headlined The Action Committee’s Chili Cook-off After-Party, has just released The An Albatross Family Album, its first since the incredible 2006 album Blessphemy (Of the Peace-Beast Feastgiver and the Bear-Warp Kumite). Clocking in at just under 30 minutes, Family Album is an intense sonic experience that is hard to classify musically. Each song blends grindcore, prog rock and noise music and lays that combination over shrill vocals and ever-shifting time signatures.
The result is a listening experience comparable to a freefall through a three-ring circus from the perspective of the human cannonball. You can imagine the swirling colors of the tent flying past you as it slowly dawns on you that the landing pad is gone and you are on a direct trajectory for a cage full of tigers and rainbow-colored bears.
While Family Album is a solid offering, it has a hard time living up to the impossibly high standard set by An Albatross’s other releases. There are breaks in the unrelenting torrent of churning riffs that devolve into overly long spoken word pieces that sound like they would be more at home on an Aphrodite’s Child record. In addition to this, some of the synthesizers are quite jarring and cheesy, but are most likely used for an ironic, faux-bombastic purpose seen on their last few releases. Despite these few setbacks, The An Albatross Family Album is a solid offering that sees An Albatross becoming increasingly manic while living up to its past achievements.
An Albatross
An Albatross: "I Am the Lazer Viking" (Live at Emo’s)
Gang Gang Dance: Saint Dymphna (Warp Records)
Rating: 8 out of 10
Switching gears from manic spazzcore to chilled out avant-house music, Gang Gang Dance’s newest release Saint Dymphna picks up from where the band left off on its 2005 release God’s Money. The trademark mix of bubbling synths, walls of lush keyboard ambience and various types of syncopated percussion are still present, as are the Karen O-esque vocals of lead singer Lizzi Bougatsos.
Saint Dymphna also features a guest performance from London grime MC Tinchy Strider, whose lightning fast delivery feels strangely at home over the beat laid down by the rest of the band. The new album wanders between genres, going from downbeat ambient to abstract electro pop to house music, but never dwells on any one style for too long. This is not a bad thing, however. In fact, it keeps the album refreshing even after repeated listens, which is important if you consider the somewhat simple formula of most Gang Gang Dance songs.
Unlike God’s Money, many of the tracks do not run together, but still flow quite nicely across the 45 minutes of the album. One of the few complaints I have is that Bougatsos’s vocals wear on you after a while, in the same way that the vocals of her contemporaries Karen O (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and, to some extent, Alice Glass (of Crystal Castles). However, they skim so lightly over the mix that they can easily be overlooked if listener fatigue kicks in. Overall, Saint Dymphna is a good follow-up to its predecessor and shows that Gang Gang Dance can keep its music interesting despite a long break between releases.
Gang Gang Dance
Gang Gang Dance: Live at the Luminaire
Show Preview: Opeth, High on Fire, Baroness
Thursday, October 23rd, 8:00 p.m., Bogart’s (Cincinnati), $18.50 (+ $8 for Steak and Lemonade gyroburger combo)
This is perhaps the best lineup of any show that I’ve ever heard. Opeth is the band that got me into metal and, subsequently, all forms of heavy and abrasive music. Without them I’d still be nerding out over old Yes LPs and Phish bootlegs. Touring to promote its ninth studio album, Watershed, Opeth is simply going to tear Bogart’s apart with their blend of progressive rock and bottom-heavy death metal.
High on Fire, the current stoner-thrash project of gravel-throated ex-Sleep guitarist Matt Pike, are occupying one of the two opening spots. The other is being taken by Georgia post-metal group Baroness, whose 2007 full-length The Red Album was named “Album of the Year” by Revolver Magazine.
If you do happen to venture out to Bogart’s for this show, be sure to grab dinner at Steak and Lemonade just down the street from the venue. It’s a greasy spoon, for sure, but it has the best gyroburgers, Cajun fries and frozen lemonade that I’ve ever tasted.
Opeth
Opeth: "Porcelain Heart"
High on Fire
High on Fire: "Devliution"
Baroness
Baroness: "Wanderlust"
Well, readers, enjoy the week and be sure to check out these new releases. Next week I'll be listing the top five most bone-chilling albums of all time (in my opinion, anyway). Keep enjoying tunes, steak and lemonade.
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