by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
For Brooklyn duo Gorgeous, there are no straight lines on Egg, their debut album, but there’s a whole lot to grasp onto. Due out on November 8th via Sad Cactus Records (Lrrr, Squitch, Wet Mut), the band recorded the record with Kevin McMahon (Pile, Widowspeak, Titus Andronicus), capturing their sparse but spontaneous songs with a live energy and a mix of noise-pop charm. Dana Lipperman (guitar/vocals) and Judd Anderman (drums) pound through nine twisting and turning pieces of sweet yet sludgy math-rock indebted songs, but their element of pop (almost verging toward twee) remains heavy and focused on an exceptionally promising debut.
From the wonky start of “There Is No There There” and it’s gentle introduction that eventually bursts into an jittery rush of stops and starts, to the Deerhoof-influenced detached boogie of “Metalhead,” Gorgeous use their guitar and drums set-up to create something far bigger than your standard duo. They construct pieces that snap into place with shapes that are common in structure but unfamiliar in their purpose, remolded and repurposed.They follow a formula that’s something like a bull in a china shop, rampaging through delicate moments. Gorgeous embrace hypnotic drone with skittering drums on “Hole,” a track that feels stoned beyond movement, but approaches a doom-pop melodic complexity. They go haywire on “Never Forever,” a rampant and fuzzy rager that is catchy as hell, even as the guitars bounce from wall to wall, tightly coiled and locked into circular patterns that shine through entangled webs. With every song cementing the band as one to watch, Egg is an excellent debut that remains interesting from start to finish.
Gorgeous celebrate the album’s release on November 13th at Alphaville in Brooklyn with Spowder, No One & The Somebodies, and Half Human.