Gang Gang Dance – Saint Dymphna (Warp/Inertia)

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If Dymphna is the patron saint of those who suffer from mental ailments, nervous system disorders and even runaways, what does that say about Gang Gang Dance’ third record, Saint Dymphna? If you said an aural schizophrenic journey courtesy of an avant-garde quartet through the outer limits of electronica and dance music, you’d be on the right track. Three records in, the Brooklyn-based outfit have started to emphasise the “dance” in their moniker.

Of course, they’re doing it in the most subversive way possible, blending 1980s post punk, tribal rhythms and experimental electronica with that New York sense of iconoclasm that seems almost intuitive to bands coming out of there. Saint Dymphna is an exquisitely arranged album, yoking synthesisers that sound more like Battlestar Galactica weaponry with rhythmic avalanches and the occasional vocal outburst from Lizzi Bougatsos. Structure is discarded in favour of amorphousness. A song like the transcendent “Blue Note’ is centred on a hypnotic rhythm motif, embellished by an oriental-sounding synth line and chanting vocals. “Inner Pace’ could be Burial attempting to create rave music, while “House Jam’ and “Desert Storm’ are the most infectious tunes committed to tape.

Saint Dymphna isn’ a concept record per se, but each song seeps into the other. It’s a small touch, but it means so much when you can listen to an album and it appears like a complete piece of work. It’s undoubtedly a challenging listen with a cornucopia of ideas corralled into one psychedelic disc, but Gang Gang Dance pull it off so effortlessly you almost forget that music ostensibly this weird can sound so right.

Dom Alessio

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1 Comment

  1. Shaun Prescott on

    Beat me to it! Awesome album, I’ve listened to it dozens of times already and haven’t tired of it. I wish all pop music was as perfect as ‘House Jam’.