Review | “Most Normal has much in common with the dissembled elements found in Picasso’s epic, Guernica” Gilla Band – Most Normal

Albums are singular slices of a greater body of work. No matter how contorted or angular, where an artist begins and ends is a worth taking into account. Most Normal can be found in the middle of Gilla Band’s thematic thread. Drawing from the shuddering fury of Holding Hands With Jamie via the visceral, primal scream of The Talkies, Most Normal is the natural, albeit abstracted, progression for Gilla Band. In context, the record has much in common with the dissembled elements found in Picasso’s epic, Guernica.

Most Normal establishes this melding of tones in the opening one-two of ‘The Gum’ and ‘Eight Fivers’. A bone-shaking collage of sounds that works as a conceptual sonic mood board of what’s to come, the songs contrast the overwhelming weight and relative clarity Most Normal conveys. Yelled lyrics ramble to the punctuation of cutting guitars in ‘Eight Fivers’ leaving the music a restless but intentional feel. While the backdrop, portrayed in ‘The Gum’ remains in place.

However, Most Normal looks to differentiate itself from Gilla Band’s previous work. The once feral edges of Gilla Band’s music found on ‘Bin liner Fashion’ are honed to sharpened points. There’s an almost cubist construction to tracks like ‘Capgras’, where hard-edits interrupt and deconstruct Most Normal‘s manic energy, as seen in the rattling beat of ‘I Was Away’ and warped ‘Red Polo Neck’.

‘Post Ryan’ captures the buzzsaw undertones, deconstructivism and malaise of Most Normal best. Resting on a backdrop that feels bristled and brooding, the abstracting music and lyricism melt into Most Normal’s constant contorting shape as the closing moments of the album unravel the whole thread itself.  

And so it goes, taken on its own Most Normal is a work of complex singular movements. Stepping back, Gilla Band’s latest album is like the stark lightbulb seen in Picasso’s Guernica. On its own, its striking, evocative and disarming. As part of the larger work it’s an essential symbolic element necessary to the narrative. Brilliant, challenging, and demanding, much like Picasso’s masterpiece mentioned above, Gilla Band’s Most Normal takes on even more significance when seen through the lens of what’s come before.