Gholas – Litanies (Dullest Records, 11 February 2014)

Hello out there! I’m going to make this quick — because these folks are playing a show in Pittsburgh in just a couple of hours, and I wanted to make sure I told you all about them before that happens. Also they’ve got a brand-new album that just came out earlier this week, and so for those of you who don’t live near this area (or near any of their remaining tour dates — listed below), you’ll want to go check that out anyway.

I’ve written about new albums from people who happen to be touring and coming through this city before, but this one is pretty unique for me — because it just happens that my band LAST has been added as the opening act for this particular show! We’ll be joined by locals Low Man and SuperVoid (each of whom I’ve written about several times — see here and here) at the Rock Room in Polish Hill (1054 Herron Avenue). But of course the main attraction will be Gholas who are coming from Philadelphia. Based on their just-released album Litanies, I’m really looking forward to this one. You should be, too…

I can’t remember right now which was the first time I had heard of this band — when I was contacted by Catharsis PR with details about the (then) upcoming release of their new album, or when one of the members of Dendritic Arbor had contacted me to see if LAST could fill in for their spot opening for Gholas, but either way those events were within just a few days of each other, which I thought was pretty cool.

Even cooler, when I actually sat down and listened to the six songs on Litanies. I know that being able to identify music with specific genre tags is always helpful when it comes to sharing it with other people and telling them about it, but it isn’t always an easy thing. Gholas‘ material is a good example of this: it’s hard to pinpoint exact influences, since they seem to have a bit of an oldschool hardcore/punk ethic with big chunks of sludge/doom mixed in, but all wrapped up in the overall aesthetic of no-wave/noise rock.

I’m not quite sure what you’d call that — post-punk-sludge? Maybe. Anyway, it’s probably better if you check it out and decide for yourself. Come on out to the Rock Room tonight, the show starts at nine. Or if you can’t make it, at least check out Litanies — you can stream it (and buy a copy) at the Bandcamp thingy below:

• Feb 15 – Pittsburgh PA @ The Rock Room
• Feb 16 – Washington DC @ Velvet Lounge
• Feb 26 – Philadephia PA @ Kung Fu Necktie

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