Featuring Daniele Yandel of Priests and Mary Jane Regalado of Downtown Boys, DC punk outfit Gauche are true to their name. Whimsically embracing awkwardness and angst, they do anything but take themselves seriously. Their second full-length record is a raw, minimalist groove-stew chronicling the modern condition and its everyday struggles, with both grit and grace.
A People's History of Gauche delivers the irony its title promises, depicting themes of desperation with vibrant playfulness. The ordinary, contemporary and borderline tragic collide in 36 minutes of laughs, shouts and brassy melodic experiments. The group ventures into the morbidly mundane with delicious spunk. Anger finds triumph and amusement finds power.
Despite simple song structures and repetitive riffs, the personality of the vocals keeps the album from falling flat. Rhythmic shifts, cartoonish keyboard appearances and surprise instrumental breaks make it hard to get too comfortable.
Gauche keep us on our toes, and command us to our feet. A People's History of Gauche is catharsis for the stressed, depressed and ready to dance.
(Merge Records)A People's History of Gauche delivers the irony its title promises, depicting themes of desperation with vibrant playfulness. The ordinary, contemporary and borderline tragic collide in 36 minutes of laughs, shouts and brassy melodic experiments. The group ventures into the morbidly mundane with delicious spunk. Anger finds triumph and amusement finds power.
Despite simple song structures and repetitive riffs, the personality of the vocals keeps the album from falling flat. Rhythmic shifts, cartoonish keyboard appearances and surprise instrumental breaks make it hard to get too comfortable.
Gauche keep us on our toes, and command us to our feet. A People's History of Gauche is catharsis for the stressed, depressed and ready to dance.