IN REVIEW: Guerilla Toss - "Famously Alive"

-
 

With a sound as bright and enigmatic as its cover, Guerilla Toss finds themselves on the receiving end of a fair amount of attention for their fifth album (and first for iconic indie label Sub Pop); I won't pretend I've been hip to them the entire time (when you're in your mid forties, things slip through the cracks more easily), the abridged version of Guerilla Toss' history is that they rose to underground prominence over the course of the last decade or so on the strength of their high octane live performances and their hard to pin down art-pop stylings.

Famously Alive sees a few rough edges smoothed somewhat, but there's still all manner of unpredictable thrills to be had; these songs are glossy and weird, exploring mainstream pleasures while pushing boundaries. Crucially, there's a great vibrancy at work here; these songs soar, shimmer and absolutely pulse with life, exuding positive vibes no matter how many sonic tricks are employed. There are elements of psychedelia here, such as on stunning opener Cannibal Capital, the mid-album highlight Wild Fantasy and its off-kilter immediate successor Pyramid Humm; headphones are highly recommended on these songs in particular for fullest effect.

Some of the album's biggest payoffs come from its shorter tracks, little sugar rushes that buzz, whirr and thump their way into your heart; the title track rides a punk energy into its melodic, sub-bass aided verses, while Live Exponential is gleefully odd and incredibly uplifting. This is followed by Mermaid Airplane, which features the most smile-inducing interpolation of Ring Around the Rosie since Korn entered the chat some 28 years ago. By the time the chopped and screwed acoustic guitar meets glitchcore on Excitable Girls, all bets are truly off.

Chances are, a cursory listen to Famously Alive will either pull you in or push you away within minutes of exposure; I totally understand that swelling keyboards, auto-tune and PMA aren't necessarily ingredients that make a meal of everyone's taste, and there are certain passages that lay the colour on just a little thick. Still, when the stars align here, Famously Alive hits pure pop bliss; it might not be the best album I listen to this year but, a quarter of the way through the year, I'm confident in saying it will be one of the most unique.

March 25, 2022 • Sub Pop
Highlights Cannibal Capital • Live Exponential • Wild Fantasy

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

IN REVIEW: Surf Curse - "Magic Hour"

-
Image
  After a slow ascent that saw them self-release their first three albums over the course of six years, Surf Curse found fame in the way that so many young and hungry bands do in this modern age; Freaks , written in 2011 and originally released on their debut Buds in 2013, found itself a sudden smash after soundtracking memes on TikTok in 2020, eventually garnering over 200 million streams and earning the group a major label contract.  The first album following their breakthrough, Magic Hour finds plenty of changes in store for fans; now expanded to a four-piece, this album immediately sets itself apart from previous releases based on the fuller sound in the songs alone. Couple that with a step away from the lo-fi aesthetic that played a part in earlier releases and this is obviously going to be a different experience than people may have hyped themselves up for. That said, the crunchy, energized Arrow and the lush, dreamy Cathy combine for a very strong start even as they fly in the
Read more

Gallantly Streaming: Avenged Sevenfold Go Full On 90's With Familiar, Stunning Results

-
Image
Stream Avenged Sevenfold's Hail To The King here , courtesy iTunes. As uncool and un-hipsterish as it may be for me to admit on a blog, I'm a fan of Avenged Sevenfold. Their breakthrough album City of Evil and its blistering lead single Bat Country sucked me in, and their varied, multiple era sprawling attack kept me around waiting for more. Their 2007 self titled effort was just as strong in its shameless genre hopping, planting their feet firmly in the technical metal that endeared them to so many while reaching out to explore new sounds. With that said, I felt 2010's Nightmare was a step back; while it had some genuinely thrilling moments, it overall lacked some of the adventurousness that made them so interesting. Upon listening to Hail To The King 's title track for the first time, I was admittedly disappointed by its trite lyrics and (mostly) simplistic musicianship. However, repeated exposure has helped the track age well; once you get past the lyrics
Read more

Year in Rock 2023: Honorable Mentions

-
Image
  Well, well, well. If it isn't Sound Bites temporarily coming back to life, suspiciously close to the end of the year. That must only mean one thing; well, aside from the author being supremely lazy and neglectful to his blog yet again. Yes, dear reader, it's time for Year in Rock. Look, I'm out of excuses as to why I can turn from cranking out content at a record pace to a full year of radio silence; suffice to say, this blog certainly isn't a priority in my life (which I have been rebuilding since my last post, but that's all personal stuff I have no desire to steal bandwidth from more deserving and important things). Sound Bites will continue to exist as a mausoleum for my personal music tastes, but it's not pivoting into self-help territory, nor is it roaring back to full-time status. I'll check in periodically, so as to say when there's something worth sharing. It might be once a year, it might be more frequently, but I definitely won't be gett
Read more