Gandhi Castle - Fun Times Rubbernecker

​Gandhi Castle

Fun Times Rubbernecker
self-released; 2016

3.6 out of 5

By Jamie Funk
​

I can’t say I agree with the quote on the Bandcamp page for Gandhi Castle. Does this band really sound like Jefferson Airplane got into a street brawl with Deerhunter? They sound more like a grunge band that just discovered free jazz on their EP Fun Times Rubbernecker. The band is dynamic, doesn’t give a crap about hooks and gets by with juxtaposition, tension and being unconventional.

​The EP opens with “White Noise” and is all about contrast. Incredibly mellow, melodic passages stand next to waves of distortion that sound like they they could come from Sunn O))). Gandhi Castle moves forward and very rarely revisits a measure of music. Lyrically, there is very little to interpret. The vocalist gets stuck on certain phrases and repeats them like a mantra. The drummer is a beast but so i everyone playing an instrument. I thought the best moments were frantic on the precipice of falling apart. 

Up next is “Happiness.” The band is all other place serving us with a major case of ADD. They get heavy like a grunge band and bring it down on a moment's notice. Like the first song it’s all about contrast and dynamics. Also like the first song there aren’t many hooks. That being said I will say there were some catchy vocal parts about half-way through. Towards the end the band has one last cathartic tension release before suddenly and fittingly coming to a close.

With their often vertigo induced timing the band has more in common with Deerhoof than Deerhunter. It was a factor that certainly made the band stick out not only from a technical level but also a creative level. 

As much I liked this EP their vision sounds like it’s a work in progress that will most likely get better in time. Two songs isn’t much to go by so let’s hope we get a full-length some time soon.

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