“This album is pure naive headphone acid pop to drive to, at least that’s what was going through our heads.”- Ganglians
Sacramento’s Ganglians want an island somewhere where they can soak in the sun and prowl the canopy by night. It’s not often that they do get out, but they can get down for that. Recording sometimes as one, sometimes as four it’s a real game to figure out where the entity comes from and where it’s going. First and foremost it’s about uncertain pleasures. It’s a bit like choose your own adventure. There’s “codeine balladry”; a slightly upsetting tempo that is quickly flushed into an aural high, the next moment you’re in the toy strewn abyss of the bedroom and then out to the tribal caves of the natives. The planets align and the sun beats down, palms tingling, and you are on the island they’ve built, the scenery constantly shifting for a better view, of you.
“If you ask them, Sacramento’s Ganglians consist of “the whole of the Ganglian race” as well as “the squirrels in the walls that bounce acorns across the ceiling in the dead of night.” So far, I’ve resisted the urge to look too hard to find out more. What I do know is that the group, who creates all-over-the-map damaged-and-psychedelic noise-pop, is about to release an EP and LP on Woodsist. The label’s already had a banner year and change via Crystal Stilts, Wavves, Blank Dogs, Vivian Girls, etc. Add this to the trophy case. Really, Ganglians’ sound isn’t as easy to peg as some of their cohorts — listen to three songs and you’ll hear three different approaches with some similar threads running through. See, for instance, “Hair”‘s rollicking dark surf and the more pastoral (and considerably epic) “Valiant Brave.”- Brandon Stosuy, Stereogum
GANGLIANS
07/04 Brooklyn, NY 979 Broadway Backyard – Woodsist / Captured Tracks Fest
08/23 Portland, OR Smmr Bmmr
Ganglians
Monster Head Room
(Woodsist)
1. Something Should Be Said
2. Voodoo
3. Lost Words
4. Candy Girl
5. Valient Brave
6. The Void
7. To June
8. 100 Years
9. Cryin’ Smoke
10. Modern African Queen
11. Try To Understand
GANGLIANS LINKS:
MySpace – www.myspace.com/ganglian
Label Page – www.woodsist.com