ALBUM REVIEW: Make (Less) Babies – The Guru Guru
THE GURU GURU don’t play by the rules – not yours, not anyone’s. As if drawing on influences as wide as QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, THE JESUS LIZARD, SOULWAX and comedian Andy Kaufman before tearing all those styles apart and fusing them in ways no other band would conceive isn’t enough, this third record by the Belgian outfit is being released on two different labels – one from Switzerland, the other France – neither of which have released an album by the band previously and becoming the fourth and fifth separate companies THE GURU GURU have worked with. Oh, and this entire album has been crafted by themselves: no outside producer, no external mixer, no-one. Dropping on Friday, October 27th, the album is called Make (Less Babies) and is out via Hummus Records and A Tant Rêver Du Roi Records.
Given their eclectic and eccentric mash of sounds and tones, it’s nigh-on impossible to try and compare Make (Less) Babies to the band’s previous efforts (2017’s Pchew and 2020’s Point Fingers), for THE GURU GURU are a band where, regardless of what they’re producing, one can only sit back, shrug and accept the exhilaration that comes with their records. There are moments of heaviness, albeit in a way that doesn’t involved downtuned, overdriven guitars, such as the first half of Jack Shit/Jackpot that bears a passing resemblance to SYSTEM OF A DOWN and the title track is wonderfully chaotic, a punk feel bolstered by the contrast in spoken vocals and the ‘interruptions’ of cacophonic band sound that keep the listener on their toes.
Bassist Moreno Claes has a particular strong showing on the record, the funk aspect to Lemon-Aid, Lemon-Cello (Bear Dance) helping to give an air of desert rock, particularly when combined with the guitar hooks. At other times, like Supply On Demand (Sunshinin’ On My Dinin’), the pleasure is found within the talent of drummer Siemon Theys as he helps the track float along like a cloud streaking across the sky from a particularly strong wind; the back half descending into more psychedelic territory a la early PINK FLOYD is a nice touch as well.
The star, however, is vocalist Tom Adriaenssens, affectionately known as Tom the Bomb. Without a doubt one of the most underrated lyricists in alternative music today, he’s able to balance barbed satire with jovial delivery and comedic value. In 2073 (Plenty Of Other Fish In The Sea) is a prime example, Tom taking the serious matter of climate change and presenting it as an over enthusiastic tour guide, explaining all the famous seafood delicacies of towns and cities that are now coastal thanks to rising sea levels.
He’s at it again in Saint-Tropez, the throwaway intonation of ‘We’re gonna have to sell the house in Saint-Tropez, ’cause we’ve got bills to pay up here’ an excellent lampooning of those out of touch with the inequality and poverty so many face. However, his opus is on penultimate track Oh, Me (I Can’t Complain), which looks at the instinct to hide what we’re actually going through with small talk: ‘Oh me, I can’t complain, I really can’t complain – and I’m sad‘ is up there for lyric of the year, without a doubt.
THE GURU GURU aren’t going to be for everyone – their blend of styles and sounds will be too much for some to make sense of, others won’t be able to get behind a band that some would brush off as ‘too arty-farty’. But if you’re looking for something different, something that challenges you whilst also touching on some of the bigger issues in our world today, Make (less) Babies might just be your best new discovery of 2023.
Rating: 8/10
Make (Less) Babies is out now via Humus Records/A Tant Rêver Du Roi Records.
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