Label: Sub Pop
‘Famously Live’ is the new album for New York band Guerilla Toss and their first for legendary record label Sub Pop.
As the aggressive noise and twisted vocals and explosions confront you from the off, it’s hard to know what you’ve got yourself in to. Once that subsides and the Atari style drumbeat kicks in, it’s still hard to work out where this band fits. With the rapid fire drumbeat and sparing muted plucking of the guitars, the repetitiveness of the beat is reminiscent of Battles but Guerilla Toss are no copy.
This band is truly an individual outfit. The title track is next and explodes in technicolour with drums hammering, huge glam chords and beautiful harmonies. That electronic element still works it’s way in by way of a sub bass and a synth squeal every now and then.
‘Mermaid Airplane’ sits more on the side of straight electro pop with cheery chord progressions and a beat that begs you to bang your head to it. With the airy synth and layered vocals over the top, ‘Mermaid Airplane’ is a beautiful track that demands to have the volume cranked up and for you to have an experience.
It’s hard to pull ‘Famously Live’ apart as an album simply because there is so much to digest. Sweet vocals, major chords and fluttering synths shake hands with aggressive sounds, hammering drums and twisted, cutting beats to create something truly unique. Guerilla Toss are carving their own path and creating their own genre and the only thing you can do is allow yourself to be swept along.
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