Gnarwhalz - Foggy Gentlemen
(Poncho Records)
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| Gnarwhalz - Foggy Gentlemen |
Campbell, Chesel, Erik, Gunnar
and Peter. Now that's a collection of manly man's names which can only produce
fine, chiselled rock music for sure. Well, not exactly. The quintet from
Halifax (the Canadian one) actually produce scratchy, awkward indie music like
a less slick Vampire Weekend but with wit and a laid back air that suggests
they don't give a damn what you think. 'Beast Coast' opens up this short album
as the band sing as one about "bros with baseball caps and aviators
on" and "with every bottle opened there's adventure being born"
as the song goes on for nearly seven minutes to spawn what must be the first
sighting of slacker-indie-prog. 'Heading East' is a gently swaying piece of
summery indie like Tennis at the end of the night or Weezer on a Sunday morning
after a heavy party round the pool while 'Dieter' tells of drug taking doves
and vomiting in sinks, naturally.
There is an almost Franz
Ferdinand swagger to 'Pleasantly Surprised' but with a definite Atlantic twang
before 'Spider Monkey' takes a simple garage riff, throws in some Beach Boys
and then does its best to sound like Bryan Ferry or Sparks. There is a certain
innocent lack of subtlety about the cherry popping ode to sex that is 'Mrs
Beauville' which is hard to resist while closing track 'Years Young' is the
kind of song that only a group of good buddies with guitars and beers could
write without it sounding like it's trying too hard. I get the feeling these
guys will get a tonne of gigs on the basis of being a good laugh and fun to
hang around and, baby, there's nothing wrong with that. That's what the church
of rock'n'roll was built on. I mean, imagine this as a chat up line "Hey,
I'm Gunnar and I'm in a band called Gnarwhalz, wanna get high?". I'm moist
already.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/Gnarwhalz