Album Review

Gauntlet Hair – Stills

• 15th Jul 2013

The rumble of jungle drums instantly converts into the sounds reminiscent of the Jesus & Mary Chain as ‘Human Nature’ opens ‘Stills’, Gauntlet Hair’s second album, due out on July 15 through Dead Oceans. The entrée is more of a monologue than a song, laid over a persistent, bass-heavy beat, but it does the trick and becomes only more addictive. Some sweet tinkly bits stall monotony as the lyrics trip into a repetitive spiral based around the possibility that our protagonist makes his muse smile one time a week.

The far less fetchingly named ‘Spew’ follows, projecting a similar although more jolly and skippy bass beat. It is all very slick and neat and easily carries you along, but other than some shout outs the vocals are relatively muted and clearly are intended to accompany rather than lead.

‘Simple’ brings with it more sounds of a New Romantics or even Early Indie revival, but remains starved of vocal input and is rather dirgy. I’ve heard the jingly jangly bits before, which makes them seem a tad jaded: while this one is a little foot tapper, that’s kind of it.
‘Bad apple’ follows and promises more, although the sounds are quite familiar. Again, my foot is in action but by now I am starting to pine for at least some meaningful vocal content. While the song title promises a decent story, it is a struggle to get through to what that may be. Obscurity is fine and presents the need to delve deeper, but after a couple of goes at this one I am no wiser.

The road to happiness for Andy Rauworth and Craig Nice, the band members who are often joined by Matt Daniels and Nathan Wright, is paved with ‘noise-pop anthems’. And ‘New to it’ fits that bill perfectly, with Rauworth blessing us with wailing vocals amid the echo effects.

What follows is terribly short but is the high point of the album, where perky vocals lift a sound that evokes marvellously an industrial wasteland. The song is called ‘Obey me’, picking up on the fashionable love for the word ‘obey’, but also capturing perfectly a heavy, art school sound. It all ends a little quickly and mysteriously, which is either down to some technical hitch or a cute playfulness.

The unpleasantly entitled ‘Heave’ sees Rauworth stretch a vocal chord or two, with the music following in his wake. There is nothing new or special going on here, except for some tricky and entertaining guitar licks towards the very end. The heavy, heavy backdrop continues, almost grinding to a halt in ‘G.I.D.’. A break in the middle for special effects – including the introduction of a violin – adds to the sound of an industrial apocalypse.

Pop is back on the menu with ‘Falling out’, with the mood suddenly lightening and Nice’s drum show going more disco. My feet are tapping again as the wailing begins. It feels like there is a more dancey and speedy band waiting to get out as the music diverges from the Sci-fi sounds that have gone before.

The final offering, ‘Waste your art’ includes more jolly gimmicks among the wailing, but again lacks a good and strong vocal input.

– Richard Jory

Venue: Stills
Support Band: Dead Oceans