- Genre: 'Punk/New Wave'
- Release Date: '29th February 2016'
Our Rating:
The Gaa Gaas get that less is more. In a career spanning 13 years, they’ve managed a trio of compilation appearances and a handful of singles, with the last new material appearing some four years ago. You could hardly accuse them of being overexposed.
They built up some critical mass over that time, and rather than nag over the details of where they’ve been, we should be grateful that they’re finally back. And if just two tracks seems like not much to show for the time away, it’s about the quality, not the quantity.
Moreover, as the press release notes, the release combines the ‘feel of both The Fall and The Specials’, and this relates to the socipolitical elements of the lyrics, inspired by recent catastrophic events in Syria, as much as the music.
The guitars clang and blur on ‘Close Your Eyes’ while Gavin Tate’s vocals maintain a certain dark detachment – while displaying a hint of TV Smith in the delivery. But hell, it’s all about the bass. An up and down bass run loops on and on, and drives the whole thing brilliantly.
Flipside ‘Indian Giver’ offers a very different perspective of the band’s sound, built around a nagging guitar motif that’s really reverby and brings a bleak yet emotive post-punk vibe. But this is no work of retro chic: this is music that matters, music that’s engaged and engaging, and absolutely the music of 2016.
