Gengahr are a fantastic young four-piece from North London who have brought out their début album this summer following a great breakthrough year which saw them touring with the likes of Alt-J, Maccabees, Dry The River and Jungle. No doubt they picked up plenty of new fans along the way as they’re a brilliant live group. I recently saw them at The Haunt as a Saturday night headliner during The Great Escape Festival and this feels like a band that has truly arrived. Their melodic indie rock sound has me excited and nostalgic for all the things I loved most about the mid-90s, but that’s probably just because that was the era I was a teenager, and the heady mix of styles and sounds these boys create actually has a far more timeless quality. ‘Dizzy Ghost’ begins the album with the sort of quiet to loud contrast I’ve not seen since the early 90’s. It reminds a little of The Longpigs in the way the chorus comes smashing in after the gentler sparse verse and there’s also something Smashing Pumpkins-esque in the way those heavy, fuzzy distortions contrast with the sweet, troubled vocal.

‘She’s A Witch’ is the track that made my ears prick up and check out the band – that chorus is such an ear-worm I had it stuck in my head for weeks before I even really knew who the band were. The cutesy falsetto vocals that at first reminded me of MGMT at their Oracular Spectacular best. It’s a wonder this single didn’t conquer the airwaves more effectively, it should have been everywhere! There’s something quite like early Radiohead in the clean arpeggio guitar in the verses but the end effect is much sunnier – even if the subject matter seems to be about Witch Hunts. The song is carried along by Hugh Shulte’s galloping staccato bass and some dancey hi-hat work from Danny Ward, which is a feature of the bands sound. Throughout the album we notice there’s a real groove-oriented sensibility and the sort of bass playing that seems to recall the lead bass lines you find in Motown and Funk. It made me think about how several British 70s rock bands, like Queen and Led Zeppelin. ended up having their rhythm sections sampled by 80s Hip-Hop acts. The drums and bass here could work just as well in another context but they work really well here to anchor all the melody to the floor.

Next on the album there’s ‘Heroine’ which is the bands latest single, again it’s very 90s sounding, particularly in the rhythm guitar choices, but it’s wonderfully melodic and towards the end, the lead guitar builds towards an anthemic peak with the sort of lines ‘Manics guitarist James Dean Bradfield might have written on their Everything Must Go album, although here they’re soaked in gritty pitch-shifted effects rather than milking a string section for all it’s worth. ‘Bathed In Light’ is another tune that could have been far starker were it not for those bright cascading melodies and a bouncy groove under-pinning things. It was another single and a song that started me thinking about how great this band are at creating light and shade in their arrangements, the whole group allow themselves space to fill, so that as time passes each track becomes more dense. John Victor’s guitar sound for this solo is particularly out of this world and it’s a glorious moment.

‘Where I Lie’ continues in a similar vein, opening with an ambient guitar line that sounds like it could have come between the first two Radiohead albums before coming in with an unexpectedly upbeat groove. The lyrics about a monster within are typical of the album which is full of dark creepy horror themes disguised by their sunny delivery. ‘Dark Star’ is an interesting almost instrumental track in the middle of the album, a more laid-back groove that’s been wound up about as tight as it will go and some lovely delay soaked guitars. I say ‘almost’ instrumental as there are snippets of distant vocal, that seem to have been cut-up into samples. I love this piece, but can’t help but wonder what it might have become if they’d finished a vocal and lyric for it – it’s over so quickly I find myself wanting to play it back to back each time I hear it.

‘Embers’ opens with a focus on Felix Bushe’s distinctive vocal and here the timbre and melody remind me a little of Zach Condon from Beirut, although once things pick up and the vocals get higher there are moments that sound almost like Kate Bush. This track starts off making you think they’re going to strip things down and play a really mellow gentle track, but almost from the off there’s an idiosyncratic driving beat from the drums. It feels totally out of place until the bass comes in and takes the same side, but the vocals and guitar continue playing in a much more restrained way which creates a real tension that doesn’t really ever get released – the song starts to fall apart with delay guitars creating abstract noise although the bass and drums remain tightly wound until everything else has fallen away and then they give it one final push.

‘Powder’ was an early single from the band – there’s something about the guitar sound and chord sequence that reminds me of early Blur, but the ethereal vocal soaring above is from somewhere else altogether. I’m actually a little surprised this was released as a single, as it’s probably not as melodically strong as some of the earlier songs on the album, the vocals don’t quite rise out of the mix as they do elsewhere. The macabrely titled ‘Fill My Gums With Blood’ again sets us up to expect we’ve reached the ballad on the album but again the production comes in with forceful drumming. It’s a pleasant laid back number, with another catchy melody and one of the best examples of the band holding back space to fill as the track gets gradually denser and denser before an abrupt ending. ‘Lonely As A Shark’ has another cracking melodic hook – this time about being ‘soft in the middle’ – but the most exciting moments come when John Victor is cut loose to do some wild and unexpected things with his guitar. At this point I’m still trying to second guess what the vocals remind me of, they’re so distinct but also so familiar, here they got me thinking about The Flaming Lips, in the way they’re melodic, high, soft but full of yearning imperfections.

The album ends on ‘Trampoline’ which has some of the most fun production on the album, there are some really cool things happening to the guitar sounds and they’re bullying for space, forcing the vocal out of focus, but the effect is pleasant. It’s probably the most laid-back moment on the album as the drums don’t have the same sharpness as the rest, again bowing back to let those pitch shifted guitars sing like steel drums. The song doesn’t really seem to go anywhere though and it fades to a close, which does feel like a little bit of a cop-out as you can hear the song end before it completely disappears, making me wonder why they didn’t just keep it in.

Overall I’m really impressed with this début album from Gengahr, who are well on the way to becoming my new favourite band. What they have a flair for is obvious and they play to those strengths; the distinctive vocal and lead guitar sounds, the prominent pushy drums and bass, the concise arrangements and the catchy melody lines. The sound is fresh and the energy is positive and consistent throughout but towards the end of the record I find myself wanting them to try out some different approaches, some slower tracks, some longer arrangements, maybe even some deeper vocals? The drum sound on the album is very heavily compressed and tight: it’s pushed to the maximum most of the time, as is the bass. It’s very effective and I’m sure it helps those singles to shine through on the radio, but it does get a bit tiresome and after a while I found myself wanting things to have a bit more air and a bit more width and dynamic to them. Rather than have the drums play quieter at appropriate moments it sounds like they’ve just turned them down in the mix when, having seen the band live, I’m sure they’re capable of true dynamic playing. As a first album this is a fantastic opening salvo but I am pretty sure these guys have just hit the tip of the iceberg of what they’re capable of. I hope they don’t leave us waiting long to deliver on this promise!
Adam Kidd

Website: gengahr.com
Facebook: facebook.com/gengahrband
Twitter: twitter.com/gengahr