by Philip Moss

A brutalist blanket of noise – Dublin’s Gilla Band find comfort in the beautiful static

What is normal? Of course, it completely depends on the context. So rather than over thinking it, on Most Normal, Gilla Band lyricist, Dara Kiely, has let his stream of consciousness be his guide.

To attempt to describe the blanket of noise that envelops Kiely is no easy feat. There’s a hard, industrial, confrontational tone to opener, The Gum. It pulses and rattles; its brutalist blocks of noise feel like they could blow your speakers. But there’s also a comfort amongst the noisy static. It is a world all of its own; and like Kiely’s writing process, it offers an opportunity for escape.

It also offers an opportunity to reflect. ‘I spent all my money on shit clothes, shit clothes,’ Kiely plain speaks on Eight Fivers – proud that he’s followed his own path outside of social norms. On Bin Liner Fashion, The Fall’s Your Future Our Clutter comes to mind – the uncomplicated repetitions noting that his brother’s hand-me-down clothes mean that there was never an option by to be out of step.

More so than either of their previous long players, the Dubliner’s have noted that they were afforded the time to twist and edit and shape and re-shape during Most Normal‘s post-production – to try out ‘wild ideas’ as they put it. But this has not lessened the impact. Its a record full of feel, and one senses that the majority of the process and decision making did take care of itself. What is normal? Who cares – because Most Normal is a brilliant balance of the everyday and the surreal.

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