Rob's Album Of The Week: Guerrilla Toss' Gay Disco

By Rob Duguay

You might not know it, but believe it or not I have a strong appreciation for noisy and abstract music. It might be because of my undying & unsatisfied craving for something new & different or it might be because I just have a soft spot for rhythmic chaos. An album I got recently that seems to fulfill both desires is Guerilla Toss’ Gay Disco. These art punks from Boston really know how to get weird through complex song structures, rigidly loud riffs and blistering synth roaring through each track. They might not be from the epicenter of noise music in little old Olneyville, but their sound definitely identifies themselves as part of the burgeoning underground scene.

With huge no wave influences and having the ability to make you become a one-person groove machine, Guerilla Toss have droning chords that fry your mind like an egg in a skillet. A lot of yelling and hollering from vocalist Kassie Carlson mirrors Blondie’s Debbie Harry but as if she was on a wild acid trip. You never know what to expect every second because of the unpredictability of it all, it’s the ultimate form of avant-garde because everything seems free. I can imagine these guys are the ideal factory party band, people pogoing next to each other as if they were part of a human bumper car race. Whatever Gay Disco makes you think, you have to agree that the elaborate tones exude sheer genius.

Have you been annoyed by the Christmas music yet? It’s already the first week of December and I can guarantee that you want to kick Santa Claus in the nuts after being forced to listen to “Jingle Bells” for the 800th time. One good thing about this time of year is that you have a countless amount of reasons to wear your favorite ugly sweater, maybe it has a goofy looking reindeer on it or it’s your generic Christmas tree. Regardless, my top tracks off of the Album Of The Week promise to not annoy you but instead educating you. I gotta show you what’s good, it’s in my nature to do so. Anyways, here goes something.

That beat starting off “Club Kids” has the power to make you boogie while the guitars make your head spin. Jangling riffs and a smooth bass accent “Trash Bed” and then Kassie brings it all together with her squeaky voice to solidify the body of the track. The dronefest of “SugarBetter” takes your ears to another planet while the drums provide a steady backbone. There are a few loops in “Pink Elephant” but the repetition gets cancelled out with distorted riffs and full blown pandemonium. Still want to know more? Be well assured that each track off of Gay Disco will shave your brain and scorch it into frayed little embers.

Guerilla Toss will be embarking on a little East Coast tour starting tomorrow at The Middlesex Lounge in Cambridge, MA with fellow Bostonians Fat Creeps. Everyone in the Beantown area should be in attendance, both bands are killer and you're bound to have a blast. Until Guerilla Toss changes the face of your favorite music venue, get their new album Gay Disco. It’ll change the way you think about how music is supposed to sound for the better.