It’s this, plus a rich seam of self-deprecating cynicism that has pushed Gustaf, the art rock band she fronts, into the orbits of some diverse touring company and recording collaborators. Even on the Brooklyn five-piece’s debut album Audio Drag For Ego Slobs the formula for mixing post-punk style and not taking themselves too seriously, or rather being the main focus of so much self-effacing attention, made it easy to like the group. Especially with lines like “You say that I’m much too old / To still be lo-fi” on their track “Mine”.
Thankfully on Package Pt. 2– the name itself a reflective, arch comment on their second full-length album – they maintain that almost hedonistic approach to blending poetry and hypnotic repetition in a No Wave style. These jagged sounds open the door for critics to compare them to late 70s / early 80s New York luminaries Talking Heads or the day-glow pantomime chaos of the B52s. They’re not wrong though. One of the standout tracks from the album “Starting and Staring” skillfully evokes the essence of that period and indeed on opener “Statue” Gammill sings, “I project / I project / I project my way centre of the stage / I stand still at the centre of the stage”, she could be narrating the famous opening of Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense through her own filtered live experience. The jittering bass rumble of “Close” that follows batters you into listening, in the kindest way possible. One of the most notable things on this track though is the downpitched vocals contrasting the higher-pitched rapid fire of Gammell’s lead. They read like a conscience or goading voice and whereas there are moments when it fits seamlessly the fact that these vocals litter most songs on the album becomes a little grating and a one-trick pony at times.
Maybe this is exactly the point. The centrepiece of Package Pt. 2 comes with the dual “Here Hair / Hard Hair” combination. The first part is a languid morphing song with psychedelic edges, a hazy half-awake experience, that picks up pace and meanders around bends. Ebbing and flowing until it comes to the latter part which is a punky thrashed-out repetition of all that’s happened in the previous four and half minutes condensed into forty seconds of frenzied riffs, snare beats and screamed vocals. All the while that persistant mewled molasses vocal sidles in with its annoying interjections, like a perverse art rock hype man.
Other tracks slide by unnoticed until the final trio of songs, “Happiest Thought” and “Ground” merge us back into familiar post-punk territory whereas “End of the Year” is a lilting carousel accompaniment that proclaims “Everything I asked for I got / Everything I wanted I got / But who won? / Once more I peek inside / Once more I ask / Are you alright?”. It’s a rare moment of not deflecting, something approaching introspection in an otherwise brash confident collection of tunes. There’s no doubt that Gustaf is an exciting outfit when it comes to world-building and it delves deeper than its predecessor. The band, the entire cohort of five souls that also sees Tine Hill, Vram Kherlopian, Melissa Lucciola and Tarra Thiessen play their part, does still feel very much like Gammill’s band, with her drawing all of the focus.
