Ganglians

A laidback London stopover

Lo-fi psychedelic popsters Ganglians were the feel good hit of the summer last year in the US. This time around it’s Britain’s turn to stretch out to their hazy sounds, with the quartet swinging by London on the last date of their European tour.

First up, however, we were treated to one Paul A. Rosales of Orange County, a living argument for legislative curbs on bedroom music-making. Hands down the worst paid musician we have ever seen, Mr Rosales turned a lo-fi ‘multimedia’ performance into a farce, cocking up practically every conceivable aspect of the show. How such people manage to book intercontinental shows is a mystery to us.

Luckily, Ganglians were on hand to save the day, temporarily taking us away from a sticky north London basement to the beaches of north California. Long-haired frontman Ryan Grubbs confidently led an enjoyable set, backed by the blurry-eyed but surprisingly solid bassist Adrian Comenzind. Catchy tunes like ‘Cryin Smoke’ and ‘Valient Brave’ got the Pyjama-clad hipster girls (apparently the new look in Dalston) dancing away on the uncrowded floor. “Take myself out to the pasture/ Smoke my reefer in the bathroom,” sang Ryan melancholically while periodically sipping a mysterious liquid from a cloth-covered thermos.

While not particularly diverse, the music flowed better live than on the rough-edged debut EP or even on the more polished ‘Monster Head Room’ album. Radio-friendly ballads like ‘Into The Void’ mixed nicely with more raucous numbers such as ‘Rats Man’.

The atmosphere was decisively chilled. “Anyone knows how to put a guitar string?”, asked Ryan to help out his hapless guitarist. Sure enough a fan was soon sitting by the stage, restringing Kyle Hoover’s instrument. By their next European tour Ganglians are likely to have a guitar tech on the payroll, although I don’t think many would mind if they don’t.

Words by Anatoliy Kurmanaev

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