Gulfer’s debut, ‘What Gives’ is a joy to behold. The Montreal 4-piece, including half of the awesome Head Honcho, have more than delivered on the promise they showed on their splits and ‘Transcendals’ EP. This record provides a beautifully constructed mathy/emo hybrid that sits so nicely between both genres and never feels false or contrived.
Opener ‘Bloody Lookin’ starts the record off with an awesome drum fill before big drums and crashing guitars fill the space out. The triple vocals on this record are so good, simultaneously sounding like Sport (who Gulfer toured with) and Grown Ups, whilst completely doing their own thing. The contrast between loud, full guitars and slow, twiddly parts is evident throughout the record with Steven Whiteley and Vincent Ford trading off each other so nicely. Their interplay is so good during ‘Getting Hit By Packed Guitars’ as the vocals strain against the syncopated drum rhythm and the mathy guitar parts. This song makes you wanna dance around like an idiot.
Somehow Gulfer manage to incorporate weird tempo changes and awkward time signatures whilst keeping everything super listenable and keeping you interested. Sometimes too many changes can make a song feel too busy, but Gulfer do it so well and competently, it keeps the whole album exciting. ‘Most Of My Time’ brings it down a notch with Whiteley’s horn sounding American Football-esque over the top of the noodling guitar. The vocals on this track are more stripped back and it really makes you realise just how fast and loud and energetic the first two songs were. The lead guitar part over the end of this song is one of the highlights of the record.
‘Post-Molly’ and ‘Altalalaval’ are two welcome interludes in between the more intense joints on the album. They really make you take stock of everything, and appreciate just how talented these guys really are. We’re lucky to have bands like Gulfer around. ‘Trim It Short’ has these amazing looped guitar parts that go round and round and then the drums come in and match up with them and everything feels right in the world. You’ve gotta be nodding your head when you’re listening to this, no matter where you are. The song collapses into this huge, slow, loud ending where it falls back to just one guitar before slowly everything comes back and we’re left with big group vocals and the horn sitting on top.
Major shout out to drummer Simon Maillé for all his work on this record, some of the parts are so ludicrous and he makes it all sound so easy. In fact, not just Maillé, but Ford, Whiteley and bassist David Mitchell are all incredible musicians. They are exciting to listen to and make you want to see how they pull this stuff off live. This album is relentless and enthusiastic, it’s constantly forcing you to pay attention. Do yourself a favour and listen to this.
CONOR MACKIE