by John Brouk
On their new album, Shafted By The Algorithm, Ghoulies offer a declaration of dissatisfaction with a world of digitally mechanized forces telling us how to feel, what to do, what to consume, and how to be. The album is a sonic slap in the face to all passive, inoffensive algorithmically pleasing wallpaper sounds, with its hyper-focused but manic barrage of guitars, synths, drums, and vocal delivery that at times feels like the shrieking of a demented soul trapped inside of a Gameboy.
The Perth-based Ghoulies are cut from the same zany cloth as fellow egg punkies like Snooper and Silicon Prairie, whose very own Ian Teeple created the cover art for Shafted By The Algorithm. Filled with an erratic one-two punch of guitars and punk rock circus organ tones, this egg punk romp is a condensed, intense, frizzled affair. The synth tones feel like you are riding on a haunted carousel going 200 miles an hour. Hold onto your horses!
The album’s title track also serves as the album opener, specifically opening up a can of whoop-ass with its eerie, swirling synth leads and guitars, and the squealing, extra-terrestrial-esque vocals which decry the modern world’s reliance upon the judgements of a nonsensical computer-driven math equation. The record’s thesis of overstimulation is expressed in the followup track “Four Decisions Every Minute”, communicating the panic resulting from streams of stimuli constantly present in our lives. The concise interplay with guitars, synths, and bass line of the chorus are elevated by frantic drum fills and a more straightforward lead vocal.
The playful hook of “Low I.Q.” is the auditory equivalent of stumbling up and down a flight of stairs, and contrasts the dark humor of the chorus. Morbidity combined with off-the-wall humor are not off limits on tracks like “Diggin Your Grave”. Although straining may be necessary to pick out specific lyrics of some songs, the overall feeling of discontent and defiance is evident. The album contains many standout lines, like the clever “Stop! Self-helping me!”, which denounces those who give unsolicited and generalized advice for self-improvement. There are also a number of imaginatively named characters like “Towel King” and “Magnetic Scum”.
Not a minute is wasted within the album’s trim 20 minute-run time, as nearly each fiery suckerpunch of a song clocks in under 2 minutes. Instrumentally, Shafted By The Algorithm is anything but straightforward, with loads of sporadic synth bloops, springy sproings, and other surprises. Unconventional chord progressions and zigzagging synth leads hide around each corner, nook, and cranny resulting in a staticy ball of energetic noise. To showcase that lyrics aren’t necessary to voice dissent, there is even a fully instrumental track, “Black Tarp”, which could be the soundtrack to a Halloween-version of the classic NES game Excitebike. It isn’t always easy to explain what is happening throughout; the Ghoulies’ newest record needs to be heard to be fully appreciated.
Shafted By The Algorithm is now available digitally with vinyl pre-orders available from Erste Theke Tontraeger set to release in March.