Ganglians - Still Living

Source: The List (Issue 687)
Date: 24 August 2011 (updated 31 Aug 2011)
Written by: Claire Sawers

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A beautiful thing, but a couple of years late for the beach party

(Souterrain Transmissions)

This is an undeniably solid and harmonious surf-pop album from Sacramento’s Ganglians. The only snag is, it just feels like several albums you may have already heard – and probably loved – before.

The second album from the Californian foursome features upbeat melodies with melancholy lyrics running underneath, in the chirpy Drums style; echoey chamber-pop harmonies in the Grizzly Bear mould; heavy reverb on the shoegazey, bendy Mary Chain guitars; buoyantly pastoral Fleet Foxy vocals and gently strummed acoustic guitar …

Not that a little bit of sunshiney slacker rock with occasional swirly psych frills isn’t a beautiful thing, it just feels like they showed up a couple of years late for the beach party.

Ganglians play Nice ‘N Sleazy, Glasgow, Tue 27 Sep.