Artist: Gloop
Song: “Carved Away”
Album: Tension EP (July 19, 2024)
Label: Independent
Genre: Noise Rock, Alternative, No Wave
The music scene out of Baltimore, Maryland rarely disappoints. Gloop is a trio of musicians emerging from the Baltimore underground scene of DIY venues, basement shows, and clubs who offer a sound primed for the noise rock aficionado. With the release of their latest EP Tension on July 19, Gloop adds a fistful of new songs to an already extensive catalog of hard edged anthems. “Carved Away” closes out Tension and is my personal favorite out of the five song EP.
Gloop has been crafting their unique, chaotic sound since 2016 after vocalist and guitarist, Dominic Giannanoto reached out to drummer Max Detrich to try out a noise rock, no wave band, pulling from influences such as Jesus Lizard, James Chance & The Contortionists, Helmet, and Sonic Youth. They recently added bassist Surf Makonnen into the fold, further tightening up their sound. It is fair to call Gloop noisy, chaotic, and eclectic, but there is always order to the chaos, and intention behind every dissonance and feedback screech.
“Carved Away” opens with a perfectly balanced attack from the trio of instruments. The guitar strums a well-voiced and distorted chord of both low end and high frequencies in mid tempo eighth notes in time with the thumping drums. There is more movement in the fuzzed bass guitar line, but the effect is not distracting at all. The intro works great in capturing the attention of the listener, establishing a sonic environment and rhythmic pacing that purely rocks.
When Dominic’s vocals begin, the bass takes over, and the end of each refrain is punctuated by strummed chords from the band. The shout style of his voice is not whiny but more baritone and bellowed from the diaphragm. The ever presence of feedback and noise frequencies pairs flawlessly with Gloop‘s hard edged style.
This track from Gloop sounds to me like if you took No Age and Lightning Bolt and threw them into a blender. Be sure to head to their Bandcamp or check their socials for new show updates. Catch them live at Cafe Nola on July 28.
Check it out “Carved Away” on our Check This 2024 Playlist!
The Indy Review 