GAFFA TAPE SANDY - ALBUM REVIEW

on

Gaffa Tape Sandy - Hold My Hand, God Damn 
It (Alcopop! Records)

Release Date: 31st May 2024

The phoenix-esque return of Gaff Tape Sandy is nearly complete with this latest album and a whopper of a UK tour in the offing but the proof, as always, is in the pudding so grab a spoon and let's get stuck in, shall we? The new album, 'Hold My Hand, God Damn It', gets going with 'Body' which is full of furious energy, pace and power but coupled with melodies as is the GTS way, so you know you're in the right place. Next up, we get straight in to 'Scrap Book' and its bouncy, energetic, summery punk energy taking me back to days of reckless fun with no place to be. 'Dead 2 Me' is a more angular affair pitched somewhere between the art of Franz Ferdinand, the noise of the Fall and the swagger of Art Brut before 'Evil' crashes the party with a rumbling bass line, tense guitars and the kind of vocal delivery that makes you believe every single word breathlessly spat into the microphone. 

The energy shifts to something a little more playful on 'Get Off' with a vibe that is part stake punk and part alt-musical (not sure if that's a genre but imagine Avril Lavigne and Sum 41 writing an alternative version of Wicked and you're in the right skate park....sorry, ball park). 'Split' takes us back to a more chaotic space with cascading riffs and clattering drums before 'Rosemary' whispers in from the shadows with a Smashing Pumpkins meets Pixies feel like a haunted interlude. You need to take the time to appreciate that pause because the furious drumming of 'Devour' hits hard from the get-go before settling into a sound that flits between early No Doubt, No Comply and System Of A Down. 

Moving in to the final third of the album, 'Medicine' is a grunge-cum-shoegaze delight which gathers pace and intensity with brilliantly infectious rapidity. The switching of lead vocals between Catherine Lindley-Neilson and Kim Jarvis adds a brilliantly unique layer to the Gaffa Tape Sandy sound but when the share/do battle over the mic on 'Energy' it really sounds like nobody else out there and that is always worth shouting about. Penultimate song 'Holding Hands' is a minute of mellower, more introspective musing before the album climaxes with 'Queasy', a song that takes us on a journey through pop, grunge, punk and shoegaze but all with those trademark melodies and vocal harmonies that are to die for. It's been a tough few years for Gaffa Tape Sandy and many other bands might have drifted off to be footnotes in indie history but they haven't and this album is the glorious evidence that perseverance really pays off. 


Live Dates: 

Fri 31 May 2024 - Brighton - Resident Records (In-Store)
Tue 04 Jun 2024 - Kingston - Banquet Records (In-Store)
Wed 05 Jun 2024 - London - Rough Trade (album release show)
Sat 15 Jun 2024 - Bury St Edmunds - The Apex
Sat 27 Jul 2024 - Latitude Festival
Fri 20 Sep 2024 - Newcastle, England - Zerox
Sat 21 Sep 2024 - Glasgow, Scotland - Broadcast
Sun 22 Sep 2024 - Edinburgh, Scotland - Sneaky Pete's
Mon 23 Sep 2024 - Leeds, England - Hyde Park Book Club
Wed 25 Sep 2024 - Sheffield, England - Hallamshire Hotel
Thu 26 Sep 2024 - Liverpool, England - Kazimier stockroom
Sat 28 Sep 2024 - Manchester, England - The Deaf Institute
Sun 29 Sep 2024 - Nottingham, England - The Bodega Social Club
Mon 30 Sep 2024 - Bristol, England - Exchange
Tue 01 Oct 2024 - Cardiff, Wales - Clwb Ifor Bach
Thu 03 Oct 2024 - London, England - Boston Music Room
Fri 04 Oct 2024 - Guildford, Surrey, England - The Boileroom
Sat 05 Oct 2024 - Brighton, England - DUST
Sun 06 Oct 2024 - Tunbridge Wells, England - The Forum