Fans of Glasgow bands Lucia & the Best Boys and The Ninth Wave may be taken aback by the metal project Gout which includes members from both bands. The outfit’s latest EP Actual Bastard is released on 17 April. It was recorded and mixed by the band in Glasgow and across the five tracks it is a brutal exposition of the human condition, at times raw and disarmingly honest, yet elsewhere humorous and self-deprecating. On the EP the band share the following:
“We’re really passionate about doing things DIY, so the EP was recorded and mixed entirely by the band in a single room in Glasgow and we are releasing the EP physically – a limited release of vinyl – on a fully DIY basis.
All tracks were recorded live in a small room in Glasgow, with minimal overdubs. This approach preserved the volatility of the performances, allowing mistakes, noise, and momentum to remain part of the sound rather than be edited out. We really wanted to convey the physicality of the band’s live performances and were confident in these new songs, so we didn’t feel the need to dress them up at all. There was an intention to having the sound be really quite exposed, letting the songs drag, surge, and fracture naturally. Although the songs are pretty brutal in places, we’re always mindful of integrating melody to the overall mixture.
Many of Ally’s words deal with quite tough issues, sometimes personal and sometimes observational. Though delivered with a lot of intensity and aggression, the words are often very emotive or charged with humour. For example, the first single ‘I Am a Beacon of Health and Wellbeing’ is a case study in fragile masculinity: burying your insecurities under a veil of unwarranted self help advice, preaching about being the best version of yourself when really you were up till 10am snorting drugs with total weirdos and now there is literal blood coming out of your arsehole. In this regard, see the lyric ‘I am a vision of health and wellbeing, from the shit in my blood to the blood in my shit’. Ally’s lyrics are, at other times, more introspective and personal, dealing with mental health on a day-to-day basis: for example, ‘I’m an inmate, and this skin is a prison.’”
Actual Bastard makes its intention clear from the very start with the heavy stuttering guitar riff of opener ‘Inmate‘ followed by the guttural utterance of vocalist Ally Scott, it immediately grabs. The anguish is apparent: “Won’t somebody help me I’m stick in this skin, can’t get out” . It’s a heartbreaking reflection of mental health, and how it can make one feel utterly trapped. The pounding drums take over as the pace lifts only increasing the sense of anguish. The instrumentation seems to take over in the final minute adding to the vocalist’s frustration, the sonic walls engulfing him. ‘Too Bleak‘ follows, its off-kilter beats of the guitar and drums battling against each other. The cathartic nature of music is all too apparent: “Too bleak, I’ll give you something to talk about”. It is a purposely twitchy track and the harrowing protracted vocal expression of pain saying everything.
This is a hint of irony on ‘I Am a Beacon of Health and Wellbeing’. Here scuzzy guitars and thunderous drums provide a doom laden soundscape with the lyrics saying everything: “How does it feel to be alive?” on repeat followed by “Look at me now”. The hardcore vibe has a delicious crisp guitar moment of respite towards the end, the question switching to “What does it mean to be alive?”, that change in just one word shifting the whole emphasis.
‘Junk Sick‘ slows everything down with the vocals spoken at its outset. It’s a dark track, and perhaps as close to a love song Gout will get. “Blackbirds, they sing with blood on their breath; I saw you in my sleep, last night, we done it to death.” It demonstrates versatility with the distorted vocal and shifting pace different from the rest of the EP, but there is an underlying danger felt throughout ‘Junk Sick’, difficult to point your finger on but it is there and it is powerful.
‘Tarmac’ is a highlight on Actual Bastard. A complete shift again with the crisp spoken word accompanied by a lighter guitar and a hint of tension layered in the background. This lyric lodges itself as an ear worm and is striking in its simplicity yet the imagery says it all: “I’m just tarmac to you, you can walk all over me“. The anticipation is that this is going to get heavier, but rather than increase in speed it builds the intensity, the whip smart lyrics thoroughly mesmerising. The EP finishes with static, feedback and white noise, a suggestion of unfinished business, the anguish lingering. Don’t they say leave them wanting more? That’s exactly how Gout have closed out Actual Bastard.
For more information on Gout please check their instagram and bandcamp.
Review: 8 out of 10