Band: Gallops
Release: Yours Sincerely, Dr Hardcore (Album)
Release Date: Out Now
Gallops are wired and ready to unwind on their debut album ‘Yours Sincerely, Dr Hardcore‘. The Welsh four-piece run on the rhythms being dropped by their tight and snapping rick-sized drum-kit. It’s a chunky beast of an album, deploying your daily dose of digital magic and sounds that may remind you of something off an alien planet.
‘Jeff Leopard’ is presumably titled after the 80s power chording on display here, the staccato strikes fly among the twitchy arpeggios – squidgy, old-school synths cornering off the area. ‘Rhythm is Misery’ meanwhile feels a little more organic – the guitars are the flowing life-force on this one. But bare in mind that the album lacks vocals, so the ideas can be often forced and strained, challenging the musicians if they may be musical maestros. Especially along the lines of ‘G is for Jaile’ stretches the bands ideas, and the Protest The Hero influence at the start wearing down straight away.
Yet with its purposeful commitment to the irregular time signatures that are bound to make mathematicians curl up in a corner and cry due to their complexity, the bold guitar riffs and the constant audio assaults the record does have a few too many angles and edges. Nothing, it seems, is allowed to fade or fall quietly. It’s all short sharp attacks to the back of the head, not laying off for one second of the time. So yeah – the back end can start to grind, ideas seem to be running dry and the retro 70’s sounding keyboard’s arsenal of sounds are all but exhausted. Gallops are a musical force – they just need a few more ideas.
6/10
Reviewer: Connor Flello
