It was their first single from a forthcoming album, Pchew, that attracted me in the first place. Regular readers of Sonic Breakfast might well suggest that this isn’t typically the sort of stuff I listen to – and they’d be right – but something about ‘We Had Been Drinkin’ Bad stuff’ had a compelling, psychotic energy that dug into my hard core. Maybe it was the title that got into my head. There’s a singer in a band here who appears to be right on the edge. He needs some water and even that might not be enough to stop the raw hit that’s heading his way.
The Guru Guru have just released a second single from Pchew. Up The Wall is another slice of interesting, skewed and urgent rock. Not quite as frenzied as before, there’s still a deranged immediacy about this piece. As singer, Tom Adriaenssens, bounces up and down in a stunted pogo performance, guitars lines fly off in all angles and a solid rhythm section chugs along with elaborate funk. Just when you think you’ve got the measure of it all, we get some spoken lines that sound like they’re callbacks to classic scenes from films. If they are, my knowledge doesn’t extend to what they might be.
Do give them a go. I know if I could turn back time and Groningen was tomorrow, I’d try harder to do so.
sonicbreakfast 