Artist Review: Gulp, Season Sun
Artist: Gulp
Album: Season Sun
Genre: Pop
RIYL: Django Django, Broken Bells, Super Furry Animals
You know that moment when you really love the way something tastes or smells and you just want to take a big…well…gulp? This was exactly my feeling when I sat down to listen to the music of Welsh-Scottish quartet Gulp for the first time. Gulp is husband/wife team Guto Pryce (founding member of Super Furry Animals) and Lindsey Leven, alongside Gid Goundrey on guitar and Gwion Llewelyn (Race Horses) on drums. With their debut album Season Sun, the band produces a groovy, organic, vintage sound that fills the gap between California beach pop and road tripping through the Scottish Highlands.
The space pop of “Game Love” kicks things off, a great showcase for Leven’s airy vocals and lilting tone. “Seasoned Sun” could easily be mistaken for a lost track from the 1960s, complete with wicked synth effects and Leven’s delicate vocal style. In contrast, “Play” is much less ethereal and more rhythm-based with outstanding bass and drumlines that interplay with Pryce’s synths.
“Hot Water” is a great track that does everything very simply, and very well. It’s such a refreshing thing to hear a song that doesn’t overcomplicate itself. This one just feels good. It’s “Vast Space,” however, that steals the show with a fuzzy psychedelic sound that conjures up a hefty amount of imagery and kills it with quotable lyrics like “open up your heart and let the love flood in.” It’s catchy without being cliche and shows off the band’s fresh aesthetic to great effect.
Gulp have definitely achieved a kind of dreamy hopefulness with their debut release, where the sound seems to float on air from track to track. It’s easy, breezy and inspired by nature in its many forms. This is pop music with positive intent. Nothing’s going to whack you over the head with moral messaging, but those already in tune with their more natural surroundings will get it. Season Sun is warm, light, and a welcome bit of shimmer just in time for summer.
Gulp website: http://gulpgulp.co.uk/
(This originally appeared on Indie-Music.com at: http://www.indie-music.com/ee/index.php/blog/comments/review_gulp_season_sun)
Album: Season Sun
Genre: Pop
RIYL: Django Django, Broken Bells, Super Furry Animals
You know that moment when you really love the way something tastes or smells and you just want to take a big…well…gulp? This was exactly my feeling when I sat down to listen to the music of Welsh-Scottish quartet Gulp for the first time. Gulp is husband/wife team Guto Pryce (founding member of Super Furry Animals) and Lindsey Leven, alongside Gid Goundrey on guitar and Gwion Llewelyn (Race Horses) on drums. With their debut album Season Sun, the band produces a groovy, organic, vintage sound that fills the gap between California beach pop and road tripping through the Scottish Highlands.
The space pop of “Game Love” kicks things off, a great showcase for Leven’s airy vocals and lilting tone. “Seasoned Sun” could easily be mistaken for a lost track from the 1960s, complete with wicked synth effects and Leven’s delicate vocal style. In contrast, “Play” is much less ethereal and more rhythm-based with outstanding bass and drumlines that interplay with Pryce’s synths.
“Hot Water” is a great track that does everything very simply, and very well. It’s such a refreshing thing to hear a song that doesn’t overcomplicate itself. This one just feels good. It’s “Vast Space,” however, that steals the show with a fuzzy psychedelic sound that conjures up a hefty amount of imagery and kills it with quotable lyrics like “open up your heart and let the love flood in.” It’s catchy without being cliche and shows off the band’s fresh aesthetic to great effect.
Gulp have definitely achieved a kind of dreamy hopefulness with their debut release, where the sound seems to float on air from track to track. It’s easy, breezy and inspired by nature in its many forms. This is pop music with positive intent. Nothing’s going to whack you over the head with moral messaging, but those already in tune with their more natural surroundings will get it. Season Sun is warm, light, and a welcome bit of shimmer just in time for summer.
Gulp website: http://gulpgulp.co.uk/
(This originally appeared on Indie-Music.com at: http://www.indie-music.com/ee/index.php/blog/comments/review_gulp_season_sun)
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