The Family Reviews

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Gong Gong Gong 工工工 | Siren 追逐劇

Family Average: 4/7

I think this is the first album we have done in a while that was not in english. I wonder how the family got on with that. We have seen in the past that strange things can both enrage, and excite the family members. Which way did they turn for this EP?

Listen along on Their Bandcamp and read on to find out:

I was considering in my own headspace the significance of an album cover. How is this some trend that has stayed with music for as long as it has? For a good time before this whole vinyl revival, they were an appendix. Just a left over from a time when your main draw to an album in a store might come from the art. Even the concept of an album was sort of hanging in the balance, but that's a bigger beast to tackle. We are talking art here, and more importantly, I have to circle this nonsense back to the album featured here. What I am getting at is now that we are seeing a return to the olden days, some bands seem to have great success in marrying their art to the sounds on the record. This has been one of the best examples I have heard (seen?) in a long time. Take a listen to this and tell me you do not hear the driving gallop of a horse barreling down a trail, covering miles and miles without wavering. The thumping guitar, oh it just gets my heart a pumping. It is a bit funny though. Looking at the art for the first time, I was a little skeptical about what I was going to hear. I almost needed the music to put the art into context, and that in my mind is how album art should function for the listener. A little intrigue, and then a payoff. Good work fellas.

6/7  

I’m still sort of digesting this track. The first time I listened, I felt like I was in some sort of car chase and I was having none of it. But, in the name of journalism or whatever the heck this blog is, I carried on, and shock horror I got kind of into it. Self-described as ‘transnational blues,’ these guys are mushing sounds together to make their own wild auditory experience. It’s melodic but pulsating, bluesy but psychedelic, snare-y, and synth-y. They’ve managed to simulate a sort of galloping beat sans drum kit, creating a visceral experience of tension. Or being in a pressure cooker. Or something. My heart literally felt like it was moshing against my chest in time with the propelling bass and driving guitar. It’s all a bit surreal. Upon hitting play I’m transplanted into a tempered, racing environment of stress. A quick hit of adrenaline and I am left exhausted and slightly agitated. And yet, I keep listening.  Props for completely doing my head in, Gong Gong Gong.

5/7

I liked this. He had an early punk attitude.

I don’t know what he's saying but with punk it’s always kind of hard to understand what they're saying.

Love the guitar, the beat of this, melodic repetition, maddening good.

This would be great for a video, or a film, black and white, and staticky, maybe a What Youth surf-edit.

6/7

Okay. I'm catching on. Not all the songs we review are in English anymore. It's starting to make me wonder...what if I review a song in another language and say something like "Oh this song is so nice and inspiring!" but then it turns out that the lyrics are all about cutting off baby bunny heads and drinking their blood?! Well, lyrics aside, I just wasn't getting this song. It dragged on and I heard my elementary school soccer coach in my head asking "TO WHO!? FOR WHAT!?"

1/7

For me, this was the clunker of the week. I am guessing this is an attempt at Asian Punk? The tracks were very repetitive with not much going on creatively. They seem to use the one set formula to consistently make the same boring song over and over. The vocals are brutal. I am pretty sure the singer is tone def and this must be why the music sounds the way it does. At one point it sounded as though I stumbled upon a little kid playing one of those baby pianos and just singing anything. I give this

1/7

This EP reminds me of a cup of dirt and I think that's a really good thing. I can't really explain why I feel this way. I imagine as the music gets more intense and distorted, the cup starts shaking and maybe some dirt spills out, further down the line maybe it falls over and a worm pops out. I would say this album is very fertile with potential and raw emotion. But I believe lack in tone color was their detriment.

4/7