steering clear of the mainstream
since 2001

june 2010

review
blankred.jpg (4669 bytes)
blankred.jpg (4669 bytes)
blankred.jpg (4669 bytes)
blankred.jpg (4669 bytes)
info opinion

Gape Attack!

Self-titled C25

Skrot Up

Genre: alienated boombox jamz

Seattle, WA

January 2010

I'll admit I entered Gape Attack!'s delightfully designed opus with a woody for this sort of moody, synth-framed post-punk music, but I'm sure it won't be just me who digs these lo-fi exploits. This trio knows how to pump out the best sort of vague, midnight pop anthems, layered in tape fuzz but still beaming with melody. They seem most attached to the detached side of post-punk, leaning towards the coldwave/French new-wave scene, as is obvious in the alienated vocals and swirling synths of "Flight Plan," which would slot nicely on a bill alongside Deux or similar early eighties French acts. Witness the band at their best on dance-floor stomp-romp "Be With Me," a crafty slice of vaguely Gothic eighties pop freedom; I can imagine a high school band pumping this out at a 1984 Hallowe'en dance, the audience bopping along groovily. Other moments worth noting include the Joy Division-Tears For Fears-Echo & The Bunnymen mash-up of "OD," devilish, 8-bit adorned "Zombie Attack," and winding, climactic instrumental "Dunne." Only disorganized "Fetal Position" really disappoints, but that's small potatoes.

Extra sweet: this comes with a gnarly poster that you'll hang in your room. Dig it!

gape attack!'s myspace

 

Michael Tau

[Vitals: 7 tracks, distributed by the label, released 2009]