Still Living

Rate It! Avg: 2.5 (26 ratings)
Still Living album cover
Album Information

Total Tracks: 12   Total Length: 55:41

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Marissa G. Muller

eMusic Contributor

Marissa G. Muller has written about music professionally since she was 19, just don't ask about her age now. Her work has appeared in Pitchfork, EYE WEEKLY, Ind...more »

08.23.11
Musing on adult themes via melodic pop
2011 | Label: Lefse Records / The Orchard

“Ganglians” could be the name of a crusty punk group wreaking terror in a back alley; instead, the Sacramento-born outfit sound like they combed back their hair and zipped into khakis on their latest LP, Still Living. Picking up where they left off with the surf-freak sound of their debut album Monster Head Room and their self-titled EP’s “Never Mind,” Ganglians tightened their production and cleaned up their aesthetic. Such a refined sound is a natural progression for fuzzy bands with a bigger budget (like West Coast contemporaries Wavves and the U.K.’s Male Bonding); in this case, it led to Ganglians asking Dirty Projectors‘ Robby Moncrieff to produce their record. Opening with droopy vocals singing, “This is a sad, sad song for all you sad, sad people,” “Drop the Act” has an ambiguity that makes it difficult to discern if the sadness they’re singing about is real or light-hearted. But the tracks that follow reaffirm that they’re trying to be taken seriously. Musing on adult themes via melodic pop, Still Living would sit well on a shelf next to Surfer Girl.

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Yes!

pepelepuke

Great album! Don't know whats up with all the low ratings?? Not too say this is the album of the year but then what is?? so much good music this year. Bottom line, i didn't really like the monster head room album by ganglians but preferred their self titled LP, i liked it alot but it got kind of repetitive, like a 5 year old playing a xylophone to the pet sounds album, don't get me wrong, i still like the S/T album. This is really an improvement! I'm sure people have heard semi gloss gloom in a much more mainstream sense such as the cure and this is nothing like that, but don't judge the album content by the cover. the songs here are more concise, the pop aesthetic way more down without them seeming like they are trying. a lot more shite albums than this get way better ratings. I would give this album 3 3/4 stars if possible but gave it 5 to balance it out with the other ratings

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huh?

SonicTooth

I prefer the weirder stuff going on with the earlier albums. not bad....but.

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