SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THEY ARE GUTTING A BODY OF WATER – LOTTO

THEY ARE GUTTING A BODY OF WATER
LOTTO
JULIA’S WAR/SMOKING ROOM/ATO RECORDS

If you’re at least slightly familiar with the contemporary state of North American underground music scenes, then chances are you’ve heard the name They Are Gutting A Body Of Water. The band’s latest release, LOTTO, affirms that the Philadelphian experimental shoegaze outfit shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon, especially when considering the emotionally charged and thematically rich moments explored and demonstrated throughout the LP’s duration. It consistently operates as a 26-minute-long pleading cry for mercy and understanding towards the current state of dopamine-addicted and disillusioned societies. All while the lyrics tell impactful narratives of people who attempt to live everyday life in the grasp of these societies.

The LP’s opening track, “the chase,” is an urgent, musically screeching confessional that reflects these sentiments plainly. After a monumental instrumental opening, the guitars begin plucking sweetly-toned, reverberated melodies, as Doug Dulgarian, the frontman and creator of the project, delivers a spoken-word vocal performance about a harsh day dealing with fentanyl withdrawal: “Sunrise threatens like a group of kids in shiesties tailing me down Parrish/I lay down scratching through my skin.” Rhythmically, Dulgarian allows his erratic thoughts to spill out into the atmosphere of sounds. With increasingly stressful images demonstrated throughout, the track ends with abrupt silence, sealing the final line in the hearts and souls of listening audiences: “It’s true for both, after all.” This LP wants you to know that it can be a shoulder to cry on, or a friend in a time of need, if you require it to be; an oddly familiar stranger that says, “I know what you mean,” and means it.

The pace doesn’t slow down with the introduction of the second track, “sour diesel,” a four-minute anti-anechoic chamber of layered guitars and heavily manipulated vocal lines, with a healthy amount of crunchy gain to hypnotically blend the lyrics into the sound environment TAGABOW is actively experimenting with. These two tracks establish the environment with an effective hook and patiently guide the listener on a journey through soundscapes. TAGABOW creates harsh walls of beautiful, low-fidelity guitar tones, all of which contribute to the greater message of the LP. This is a journey that involves poignant moments of storytelling as well as abstract lyricism; emotional, guttural highlights from the full band, and effect-heavy intensity, alongside soaring keyboards, inventive acoustic progressions, and sample-led percussion. This feeling of ingenuity and passion holds you hostage while listening, until the final track, “herpim”, explodes into your eardrums. The narrative follows a plane that has no choice but to attempt an emergency landing, with spoken-word lyrics from the captain’s perspective taking centre stage.

It’s an ambiguous and spiritually engaging ending to an LP that speaks to the themes of existentialism and trauma that are frequently highlighted throughout the record. Flexing a wide array of inspirations from like-minded American music scenes and movements from the early 2010s, TAGABOW’s latest release is as nostalgic and hopeful as it is genre-defying. If you’re a fan of do-it-yourself and indie-adjacent aesthetics, this release should be a top priority.

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