In a recent interview with Stereogum, Doug Dulgarian expressed that LOTTO might be “too real.” The Philadelphia shoegaze group’s primary singer and songwriter was hesitant, at first, about being so painfully open on the fourth They Are Gutting A Body Of Water album, questioning why he sang so openly about his vices, mistakes, and unadulterated humanity. Dulgarian might have not been aware of this during the interview, which came out around two months before the release date, but this realness, unforgiving and loud in its execution, is what gives LOTTO signs of life in 2025. It’s an angry, stubborn album overflowing with sick pleasure and critique wherever you turn and, in a climate like our current one, where online genre wars are constantly beating the dead question of what “shoegaze” really means, it proves that there is still a place for those who want to defy the odds.
TAGABOW has spent nearly a decade cascading through the East Coast underground, from basements in upstate New York to house gigs in Philly. Coming off of their ambitious 2022 album s, LOTTO—the first album released on the band’s own label Julia’s War—is a long-overdue breakthrough for the group, permanently hitching them to a modern group of guitar-distortion laureates. With sharply pointed storylines, there’s not just a good flow between the pure sludge and the soft jangles but a dedication to telling the truth without embellishments. The band are becoming heroes in a style of music that’s not lacking bodies.
LOTTO is worlds more polished and confident than TAGABOW’s previous efforts, as if they entered the making of it as an entirely new band. Intro track “the chase” is ruthless and explosive, punctured by glossy bits of guitar, as Dulgarian monologues about his lowest experience with addiction which occurred on New Year’s Day in 2025. He poignantly touches on the soul-crushing emptiness of withdrawal, walking us through the horrifying depersonalization and eventual burst of relief that follows: “I finally feel the comforting and familiar feeling of potential sleep rising up through the bile in my throat” The progression of the instrumentals mirror this descent, as Dulgarian’s strained voice becomes a whisper threading through the high-pitched fuzz, something it tends to do excellently on “sour diesel” and “trainers.”
Bits and pieces of past TAGABOW projects make their way onto LOTTO, as the band embraces what’s made their brand of guitar music so unmistakably recognizable. The playful Ocarina-esque flutes at the end of “sour diesel” ring reminiscent of “lucky styles”; “slo crostic,” the album’s wordless instrumental break, reminds me of the passages scattered throughout s and 2019’s Destiny XL; the twangy notes of 8-bit chips in “trainers” sound like they were pulled from the background of an N64 game. LOTTO’s rollout was full of surprisingly catchy singles—think: “american food” and “rl stine,” two songs with tender, achy riffs and lyrics that paint the album’s themes of want and desperation. It’s easy to picture a crowd at one of TAGABOW’s enthralling live shows, swarming around the band performing with their backs turned to them, bobbing along to “american food” and reciting its Auto-Tune chorus. There’s solace to be found on this record, in its U.S. interstate imagery on “the sound of that car going by” and “the death of a dealership.” The dreamy feedback laced into “rl stine” beckons the same feeling as “Mayonnaise” by Smashing Pumpkins, and scattered phrases illustrate a story of two people falling down together: ”same / crawlspace / love / always.”
Dulgarian came up with the title LOTTO by walking through Philly and not being able to step inside a convenience store without noticing a lotto machine. The dopamine rush of gambling and its presence everywhere is lens widened on LOTTO; he sings about predatory algorithms, man-made horrors, social media, American wickedness, and drugs. His anti-capitalist screeds make for some of the strongest lyrical moments in his band’s catalogue, shining through on the more stanza-heavy songs, like on the sharp, noisy rollercoaster “violence iii.” “I could have the world and still the want behind the eyes gets loud,” he deadpans. You, as the listener, are taken into a room with Dulgarian’s demons and, together, you find a way to appreciate what life remains. As he sings on “baeside k”: “I’m so grateful for my life / It could have never been.”
Structured like a turbulent commercial flight, the synths on closing track “herpim” get louder as the minutes trudge on. The guitar strums are alarms, and Dulgarian’s narration sounds like it’s coming through a muffled intercom, talking about the “conversations with God,” stomach flips, and terrifying parts of a shaky plane. LOTTO is full of comedown moments, emo applications of indie-rock ideas, and angry thresholds, but “herpim” sticks the landing in all of the uncontrolled chaos. “The wheels touch the asphalt and the whole plane claps,” Dulgarian sings. You’re safe now, feeling like you just won the lottery.
