Thursday, August 2, 2012

CASSETTE REVIEW: Glocca Morra - "Ghoul Intentions" EP


Glocca Morra is a band from Philadelphia that I played with at the Metaphor in Escondido last week and today I finally got around to listening to their tape from last year, “Ghoul Intentions.” This 6-song EP is a really good representation of their sound, which is more or less post-pop-punk. The band that I think is the easiest to compare them to would be Hot Water Music, although a bit more lighthearted than them. They also have a slightly garage-punk sound going on that reminded me of Scared Of Chaka, and the vocals oscillate between a strained HWM-style howl and a more chesty singing voice ala Braid or Bear Vs Shark. Musically, they switch between fast-tempo almost surf-punk smarmy parts to 90s-emo type mid-tempo parts. In this way they remind me a bit of mid-career At The Drive-In, especially considering their interesting but not overwhelming guitar parts. The guitars have an appropriate dissonance, the feedback parts don’t run annoyingly but are instead part of the song itself; this is most apparent in the angular mid-section to the song “Little Man.”
Although the insert says this was released on Ranch Records this looks more like a pure DIY release, with hand-written lyrics on a hand-cut foldout insert and a hand-drawn cover of a mutilated zombie-like creature with a mouth in its chest and horned erection that seemingly has no connection whatsoever to the music within. I got a real good vibe listening to this album, so if you’re into any of the bands I listed above at all I’d say give Glocca Morra a chance; they were really nice guys when we were at the show too.
gloccamorralives@aol.com  tumblr.com/gloccamorra

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