Photo Review: Wavves and Ganglians at the Ottobar

Photos by Chrissy

The busted California lo-fi pop of Wavves blasted ears here in Baltimore on Wednesday, and brought with them the extra fine Sacramento-based Ganglians. Two complimentary but very different sounds serenaded the Ottobar, and you can read on for Chrissy's full photo set and some more wordage a la me.

A small gathering got there early enough to witness Ganglians, which is a shame because these guys were the real deal. Having put Monster Head Room on heavy rotation, I was expecting warped Beach Boys melodies and limited but generous amounts of reverb. What I got, was a whole onslaught of songs not on that album... that all rocked. There was a ton more garage influence, a ton more reverb, and the songs were all pretty incredible. Look for more good stuff from these young'uns to come.

Wavves has a new drummer, and holy crap is he better than the prior dude. I don't blame Nathan for throwing glass bottles on stage (or whatever) at the last guy, because Zach Hill is quite possibly the biggest upgrade of all time. Dude belongs in a talented hardcore band, as he conquered his basic kit with mad diligence. Zach completely stole the show, and tracks played off of Wavves' debut were amped up heavily with his presence.

While there were no outbreaks worthy of the jerks at Pitchfork getting all hot and bothered for, Nathan Williams did manage to piss off the sound guy enough for him to ditch the booth after the second song. The Wavves frontman was persistent in getting him to turn everything up to the maximum, with splintered ear drums already in full effect. With Nathan's guitar volume fully cranked and abusive amounts of reverb in use, it was tough to hear the vocals throughout the set. Luckily, vocals are certainly not the highlight of Wavves anyways.

All in all it was a solid show, and I'm stoked to hear whats to come from both acts.

Ganglians: Monster Head Room

I will be welcoming some new faces to Bmore Musically Informed from time to time, the first of whom goes by Madeline Maulding. She will present ideas from an (amazing) local musician's perspective, and I am super excited to have her on board. Here she is:

Hold on to your hats 'cause I'm about to get my hyphenate on: From its vaguely-inebriated-sounding glee-club beginning to its tripped-out-Beach-Boys ending, Ganglians' 2009 effort on the Woodsist label, Monster Head Room, exudes a barely-concealed ebullience. This already heavily-lauded four-piece from Sacramento brings their charmingly awkward brand of neo-psych to Baltimore tomorrow, and if their album is any indication of their show it will be a performance not to miss.

The album--out on a Brooklyn-based concern which has housed many a lo-fi neophyte such as Crystal Stilts, Kurt Vile, and Vivian Girls--is utterly danceable and energetic almost entirely throughout, with its Indian-brave battle cries, acoustic guitar tracks jangling alongside bouncing bass lines, and vocal harmonies all eyeball-deep in reverb...

The whole affair is generally light-hearted on a sonic level, though some songs twist the narrative line into more somber corners. "The Void" with its bad-trip breakdown, the wistful "To June" with its summertime wildlife backdrop, and the acoustic "Modern African Queen" provide pauses in the middle of the ecstatic bedlam. The highlight for me is "100 Years," a raucous garage anthem replete with enough barbaric yawping to make it sound like it came straight off one of the Teenage Shutdown compilations.

Ganglians comes to the Ottobar with labelmates Wavves on Wednesday, September 30th. It promises to be a great time, with both groups bringing their own version of the rollicking, fuzzed-out, youthful effervescence which seems to have permeated marginalized pop music in these less-than-carefree times.

Don't forget our photographic coverage of the last time Wavves was in town, right here.

Tonight: Ganglians at the Golden West

Head to the Avenue tonight to hit up an evening of bubbly psychedelic folk pop from Woodsist imprint Ganglians. One of the many hyped lo-fi artists resonating from the NYC label, Ganglians are a glaring highlight of the bunch.

As much I hate to play the often used Beach Boys comparison card, I have to. Monster Head Room just has way too many Smile-esque qualities going for it. It's not just the vocal harmonies of "Voodoo" that help to reminisce, the LP is packed with loopy and subtle sound effects often resembling the psyched out works of Smile.

Ganglians are playing tonight at the Golden West, with Jana Hunter and Adam Endres DJing the affair. Show starts at 10 PM and tickets are just five bucks.