Gary War : Gaz Forth
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Yesterday afternoon I listened to Marc Maron’s WTF podcast with guest John Dwyer (OCS,Thee Oh Sees, The Coachwhips). At some point during their conversation cults are mentioned, and the fact that cults of yore often incorporated a musical element into the fold, often with the members of the cult serving as backing band. It’s noted that cults today lack the musical “visionary element”, the fact that whatever spiritual message or transcendence was being sought out, it was almost always tied to music in some way. John Dwyer jokingly mentions that if there was such a cult today, that their medium for the message would be a “futuristic approach, he would love to see a cult emerge with a penchant to carry their message forward with electronic music like Techno.
What does this have to do with the latest release from Gary War you ask? Listening to Gaz Forth (Feeding Tube Records), Gary War’s (born Greg Dalton) sixth album and first in 5 years, sounds as if it could very well be from a bygone hippie era or perhaps the future, you could be confused as to whether or not this is a long lost psychedelic artifact, or perhaps a glimpse through an interstellar keyhole revealing sounds of a distant futuristic cult.
After spending several years in New Zealand, Greg Dalton returned to his native Massachusetts and with him his musical alter ego Gary War. Known for a sound incorporating at times, a mix of garage rock, synth pop with psychedelic and progressive leanings, it seems the last couple of years abroad has slightly polished the sound and approach to his music. Gaz Forth has revealed itself through several listens to be his most complete and satisfying album to date. It is not quite as electronically aggressive as Jared’s Lot (2012 Spectrum Spools Records) , but also doesn’t dive into the same slumbered depths of past albums like New Raytheonport (2008 SHDWPLY Records). Out of the gate Windows and Walls breaks the silence with an urgent, frantic strummer full of pointed guitars and skittish flute, the kinda track that hooks you in off the bat and is over before you’d like. The track successfully lays out the blueprint for the next 40 minutes, hazy phased out guitars, 80’s synths lines, bouncing bass and drums and foggy vocals that are not quite buried but brought out just enough to make out the lyrics and keep an air of mystery and timelessness.
Inna Witness starts out with an acoustic picked opening that inevitably melts into a golden honey strum accompanied by vaporous, spacey synth flourishes. By the time the guitar solo lands, the song has not only set controls for the sun but has collided with it. NSFL starts off with images of waking up and obsessive thoughts, the sound of electronic gremlins mumbles in the background until a psychedelic break winds it’s way into a funky breakdown.
Gaz Forth was recorded with the help of a stellar back up band, employing Robert Cathart III (Pigeons), Jeremy Pisani (Red Favorite), Kris Thompson (Abunai, Trimble), Clementine Nixon (Purple Pilgrims) and John Moloney (Sunburned), assuring that this collection of songs breaks into the fourth dimension.
If the last couple of days are any indication, this album will be getting heavy rotation in my headphones. It is one of those rare full length albums that get the cocktail just right, the very idea of hearing it too many times is an impossibility.