Record of the Month: Guerilla Toss’s “GT Ultra”

Guerilla Toss‘ new full length GT Ultra was partly inspired by the CIA’s “Project MKUltra” which experimented with drugs to weaken and torture those under interrogation, and appropriately enough, the album art is covered with acid blotter papers. The release, the band’s second under DFA, showcases a more mature production that doesn’t get in the way of the group’s signature unpredictability. An acid trip in itself, GT Ultra takes the conventions of dance, punk, electronic, and rock music and rips them apart. “Can I Get the Real Stuff,” their second track, introduces the band’s repeated practice of entering the realm of a recognizable sound/genre, and tearing those walls down with something unexpected. It sounds like if LCD Soundsystem and Sonic Youth combined forces, or if Blondie went haywire. Their fourth track “TV Do Tell” follows this same idea, bringing in instances of ’80s pop, until an uncontrollable frenzy takes over, as if someone was messing with the pitch lever on the entire track, while changing the tempo signature without warning. “Skull Pop” brings forth cryptic lyrics, like a recap of a hallucination, aligned with music hinting that something went wrong along the way. GT Ultra follows no patterns, no norms, yet comes together throughout the turmoil as one of the most exciting releases of 2017. Be sure to see Guerilla Toss live when they play in NYC again (or wherever you live).  – Pearse Devlin