Supporting Panda Bear is usually a good sign that your music is getting heard by the right people, as is being featured on blogs such as Altered Zones, yvynyl, and Salad Fork, but it’s with good reason that Gala Drop are developing a real buzz.
As you might expect from an artist supporting Panda Bear, Portugal’s Gala Drop are a little bit weird, which is something that works in their favour given that being odd is pretty fashionable at the moment. They cover a good range of weird, too, rather than sticking to one area of weirdness. Weird. Drop opens with Wild Beasts’ styled drum patterns, delicate guitar twangs and pleasant looping bleeps which continue to build throughout the song, layers coming and going. There’s a lot going on, yet it’s surprisingly relaxing and charming. Izod, on the other hand, is all funk-y bouncing synth lines and dancey bass-handclap alternations which feels like it’s been dreamt up for the opening sequence of terrible 80s film – yet works. Track Overcoat Heat verges from psych pop to electro experimentation to prog rock at times, with a synth-y semi-solo alongside fast hi-hat/cymbal tinkers (even if from a computer).
God knows where they’ll go next, but their ouput so far (check out EP Overcoat Heat) is pretty darn exciting.
Gala Drop - Overcoat Heat
Gala Drop - Gauze