Lucky Styles, the new record from experimental shoegaze band They Are Gutting a Body of Water, is like a twisted tour of the band's every impulse: a crushing rock song followed by a chirpy, skittering electronic track; swirling guitars that give way to a cheery, helium-inflected chorus. (Also unexpected: The record is currently listed on streaming services under the title S.) The band's penchant for keeping it weird is reminiscent of other Philly favorites, like the freaky psychedelia of Spirit of the Beehive or the creepy whimsy of Alex G.
On "Delta P," TAGABOW even veers toward catchiness, opening with strummed guitars underneath a strange little earworm of a keyboard riff. Singer Douglas Dulgarian's vocals swim toward the top of the mix, nearly submerged under a Jenga tower of noise that threatens to topple. And by the song's end, delightfully, it does, as everything collapses under the weight of a cathartic full-band thrash.
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