Review Summary: The Accessible Face Of Noise Rock
Conceived over the harsh sounds of industrial noises, the newest album by the former Girl Band tries to write an algorithmic pattern for a further understanding of industrial rock. One of the most accomplished albums released this year, "Most Normal" is an exercise in the realm of noise and a portrait of sound curtains made of factory rattlings and tumultuous electronic rhythms. Also, it is a significant departure from the post-punk nuance that enriched their previous effort, "Talkies", the band opting for a more compact composition.
Above all, the hype regarding "Most Normal" is truthfully deserved. In 36 minutes, the band creates a dissonant soundscape dominated by the industrial rhythms that form the album’s center, and their masterful manipulation constitutes nervous musical accents. With a definitive force, Gilla Band establishes a way of communication with the average noise-rock listener, the industrial touch magnifying the expressive side of the songwriting. But, what’s truly amazing is that "Most Normal" can be accessible for the majority of indie-rock fans, being less abstract or surreal than "Talkies." Conforming fully with its title, the record expresses normal melodic lines (of course, not in the classic sense of the word) using a palette of abnormal arrangements based on feedback and distortion.
With this widening of the aperture, "Most Normal" becomes the keeper of a mathematically constructed noise-music that can be tasted by a broader range of listeners looking for an industrial representation of garage rock inspired melodic lines. On the other hand, the "normal" etiquette may be perceived as an allusion to consumerism, an element which constitutes one of the album’s conceptual pylons. The satirical lyricism (which isn’t so well crafted) is accompanied by a sound that reminds of a palette of bands varying from King Crimson (in their “Discipline” period) to The Strokes, the multilateral influences elaborating a cryptic critic on fashion and modern waste.
As for the tracks, "The Gum" is a stylistically varied introduction to the album’s sound. Combining the industrial print with the noisy feedback and disco beats, it is a sort of pseudo-overture to the entire content. Also, it anticipates the quirkiness of the band’s approach in its ending represented by a sound footage taken from an Oliver and Hardy movie (I think it is "Way Out West", but I can’t be sure). It's followed by the anti-consumerist statement, "Eight Fivers", a song that exposes a quest for musical concise moments, opposed to the post-punk extended passages from "Talkies". Confirming the world "normal" from the title, it affirms as a noise-rock brief moment that has a strange groove and a substantial rhythmic construction.
"Backwash" reminds me of King Crimson’s 80s period. Its vocal gibberish is counterbalanced by a musical fluency that unfolds over time, similar to the neurotic post-progressive of "Discipline."After multiple listens, we are conscious of why "Eight Fivers" was paired with "Backwash" and released as an anticipatory single. The two moments connect with their concise character and make a dissonant attempt to create a unity.
"Gushie" constitutes a kind of interlude, remarked with an atmospheric approach. It’s not that memorable, and it doesn’t really work in the album’s context. Therefore, the Dadaist "Bin Liner Fashion" will contradict the ethereal atmosphere of "Gushie" with its upbeat sound, just to be followed by “Capgras”, another sort of interlude, which, like the former, doesn’t make sense, but stresses the vanguardist construction.
"The Weirds" suggestively evidences the post-punk influence, an element that was until now shallowly depicted. In this cold composition, a violent post punk touch replaces the idea of "normal". Introduced by a gloomy synthetizer, "The Weirds" build its atmosphere with rhythms that combine Joy Division’s beats with The Berlin School, the vocal part contributing perfectly to the foundation of a deranged post-punk tribute. "I Was Away" continues the spirit of the previous song with a more open and guitar lead sound, "Almost Soon" being the first moment that begins with a harmonious, melodic line articulated by a weeping refrain. "Almost Soon" demonstrates the polyvalence of the interpretation, being an intercalation between fuzz pedals, noise-rock feedback, and industrial beats, followed by the abrupt rhythmic change of "Red Polo Neck," a druggy trip into unorthodox electronica.
"Pratfall" amplifies a psychedelic style backed by dissonant choruses, starting and finishing with an engulfing noise that will be continued in the druggy post-punk final "Post Ryan". It serves as an outro, blending post-punk and acid alternative sonorities backed by a noisy wave of sound.
In its entirety, "Most Normal" is the most accessible record released by the Irish group, crafting a mixture of distortion-based styles. Like any good album, its appreciation grows with time, resisting multiple listens because of its musical complexity that compensates for the lyrical inconsistence. Despite several unnecessary deviations that affect the music’s direction (and I’m referring to the instrumental interludes), "Most Normal" feels like a memorable experience of dissonance and musical disturbance, the noise and industrial rock knowing a fulfilled incarnation in one album that classes among the most powerful releases of 2022.
