Eye Contact cover
On Monday, I had the rare treat of seeing a band I really love play an intimate show, just after the release of an amazing, critically-acclaimed new record. The venue was Old Street’s XOYO, the band were Brooklyn experimentalists, Gang Gang Dance, and the record is Eye Contact.
Providing the support was Highlife, London-born NYC musician Sleepy Doug Shaw, who also happens to be the current GGD bass player. I had heard last year’s excellent Best Bless EP and was interested to see him perform. I arrived about fifteen minutes after he started, so I can’t speak for the first few songs, but, from what I saw, he was playing completely different material this time around. Gone were the clean guitar lines and untreated vocals; in were reverb, delay and a host of other pedal effects. The songs were similarly circular, though, and characterised by loops and haunted vocals. Low-key in mood where the E.P. had been up beat and cheery, it was interesting without quite scaling the heights of the tracks that I knew.
Highlife
After Shaw had left the stage, several beers later, without a word, the space in front of the stage thickened up in anticipation for the main act. And the crowd itself was decent. A sell-out, as expected, it had an interesting combination of the older gent, the scenester couple and the ‘regular’ person; all of whom seemed to get more involved than many other small indie gigs in East London venues.
Minutes later, Gang Gang Dance came on stage to a hearty welcome, and, without too much faffing around, plunged straight into some recently released material that was both melodic and out-there, like the band themselves. The second song, ‘House Jam’ – part of which, incidentally, Florence (of Machine fame) cribbed and has to pay them royalties for – got the audience going a bit more. People even began to sway and dance (yes, dance!) to the futuristic beat. 12-minute single, ‘Glass Jar’, was a particular highlight of the set, unfurling as it does so engagingly, along with new cut, ‘MindKilla’: the later getting the crowd the most frenzied. But, what was interesting for me was that they played a handful of new songs not released in the UK and extended others in a jam-like fashion, not pausing between songs.
GGD from my phone
I absolutely loved every single minute of it, sweatiness aside, and thought Lizzy Bougastos’ siren-like vocals formidable live. Even the Japanese guy who joined them on stage, dancing with a binbag, couldn’t detract from her magnetic presence. For anyone not familiar with their signature sound – or sound palette – it is nigh-impossible to describe; however, their melding of Eastern dance music, sub bass and space-age sounds is incredible to behold, when seen live. I just hope I get the chance to see them again soon, as they are without question one of the coolest live band’s I’ve seen.
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