Tasty Assessment: Gang Gang Dance Eye Contact

Gang Gang Dance latest release Eye Contact (out May 10th on 4AD) starts off in a gentle wash of swelling synths and cymbals before locking down the beat more than six minutes into the eleven minute track "Glass Jar".  Track number two is a one minute sampler interlude of singer Lizzie Bougatsos' late uncle singing in Greek titled "∞". That's just how GGD rolls. The band, made up of a drummer, a keyboard player, a guitar player, and a vocalist, is a difficult one to pin to a specific genre. Experimenting with their vast electronic pallet of sounds GGD borrows from an array of world music styles including Raggaeton, Dancehall, and Bollywood all the while keeping things very danceable.


On Eye Contact some of the more ethereal moments conjure the territory of My Bloody Valentine while Bougatsos can sound like Fever Ray or Kate Bush or something you've never even heard before. As many different sounds as Gang Gang Dance can create on their own the album is pushed even further by Hot Chip's Alexis Taylor who lends his vocal stylings to the R&B inspired track "Romance Layers" while the bass playing of Ariel Pink's Tim Koh rounds out "Chinese High".

There is a little bit of everything except the same-old-same-old on this outstanding fifth album from New Yorks GGD. Find out for yourself, check out the video for "Mindkilla".