GILLA BAND - PUGNELLO

GILLA BAND - PUGNELLO

Words: Corey Grange

Gilla Band's Pugnello is a raw, primal roar at the listener, that drags us into the mind of Dara Kiely, the lead singer/songwriter/unsung poet of the band. He deserves to be lauded as one of our all-time greats. If Beckett watched Bananas in Pajamas, you'd get Dara Kiely. The album opens with 'The Angelus' (tremendous), the first song dealing with Kiely's recent schizophrenia diagnosis. His wordplay and wit is on full display here. Any song that uses the phrase "wearing the face off each other" and also refers to Gary Lineker as a "crisp maniac" is iconic in my books. 'Placeholder' is a dancey, buzzy mess in all the right ways. More pop culture references (Davina McCall, Coldplay, Crazy Frog and The Desmonds come to mind immediately). Kiely's honesty shines through across this album, calling his mind "a bully and it never ends". 'Alogia' is my personal favourite here, gets me grooving every time it comes on. This contains the most explicit references to Dara's schizophrenia, and has various changes from loud to fucking loud. "He's in a Robbie, a complete Fowler" might be one of my favourite things ever said ever. 'Three Hands Clapping' is eerily intense, possibly the harshest point on the album, but not in terms of sheer noise. 'Jacobsons' has a confused tempo, which keeps me coming back to it to figure it out and throw myself around. It may be the emotional centrepiece of the album, but that's up for interpretation. 'The Megazord' is loud. Like... loud. The phrase "gappy little freak" from 'Giraffe' is my new nickname. 'Crisp Pop' is a 7:42 crunchy, trance-inducing onslaught of dance beats and dance I do. Genius, underappreciated, their best album.