Guerilla Toss are Famously Alive
The next exciting tier in the wild and wonderful universe(s) of Guerilla Toss; photographed by Ebru Yildiz.
Guerilla Toss are on another level. A different playing field. A different stratosphere. A different dimension and yet are very much an integral part of our shared universe. As the prestigious and lauded group signs to Sub Pop with the blazing glory of Famously Alive; we boldly embark upon the latest chapter from one of the world's most fascinating hyperpop art nouveau phenomenons. Pop writers, critics, editors and fans alike continue to trip over themselves in attempts to describe and pigeonhole, exhausting their lexicon in valiant efforts to describe the group’s style and sound that refuses to take the shape of any convenient (or conventional) descriptive signifier. While we here at Week in Pop have continued to chronicle one of the most beloved and beguiling aesthetic entities over the past decade, we stand in appreciation of Kassie Carlson, Peter Negroponte, Arian Shafiee and their dedicated commitment to maximalist experimentation and artistic excellence.
Following up from when we talked to GT around the release of the What Would the Odd Do EP — Famously Alive is the album that got Kassie, Peter and Arian through the fury, fire and fray of the pandemic. It also stands as the Guerilla Toss album we have been waiting for in the band's dizzying discography of wild histories. The group hits harder than ever with a dedication to the sanctuary of the self, defying gravity yet again with a statement in praise of embracing life wholeheartedly. The sharply manicured mega-menace of "Cannibal Capital" rages righteously against the machines in what can be likened to a dystopian ultra-pop ode of bright glitched bravado. Dovetailing perfectly into the massive title track anthem, Guerrilla Toss, delivers a pop couplet worthy of the grandest, loudest concert hall or festival amphitheater stage in a presentation bigger, better and bolder than of all your grandpa's worn out concept LPs.
Join us after the jump as Guerilla Toss’s own instrumentalist extraordinaire Peter Negroponte provides some current items of interest and keen insights that are currently inspiring the group:
An inspiration rant courtesy of Guerilla Toss:
Robert Duvall in The Apostle
I love movies and TV. They help. I don’t have a favorite movie — favorite show is maybe Deadwood (so sick). But one movie I keep coming back to is The Apostle starring the great Robert Duvall. He also wrote, directed, and produced the entire thing. Classic Hollywood story where legendary dude couldn’t get anyone to bring his esoteric script to life so he just funded it himself. DIY style — super punk. And of course the film was critically acclaimed and everyone loved it when it was released. Because it’s really the perfect movie — unpretentious everything, beautifully shot and wonderfully acted. There’s not so much to give away — Duvall plays an eccentric Pentecostal Texas preacher who drunkenly kills the lover of his wife (played by original Charlie’s Angels actress Farrah Fawcett) and runs off to the Louisiana bayous where he re-baptizes himself and forms a new multi-racial church. And then he preaches and yells a bunch. One particularly heavy scene is when he converts a shithead racist local (played by Billy Bob Thornton) who has shown up at the church to knock it down with a bulldozer. The film also features a cute young Walton Goggins as an enthusiastic church goer in one of his first roles. It’s hard to describe how great the movie is — just check it out if you feel like it. It’s so well acted by Duvall that it never feels like acting. It’s super sick to see someone that honed in on their craft. I remember seeing the poster for it in the video store when I was a kid and being like wtf is that movie. Glad I finally saw it 20 years later. In April 2020, Kassie, Arian, and I were in a deep Covid lockdown writing sesh for what would become Famously Alive. We watched The Apostle. My third time seeing it. Highly recommended for people who like stuff.
Boredoms, Vision Creation Newsun
This just randomly came up on YouTube while I was writing this and I listened to the whole thing. Love this record. Hadn’t heard it in a while. It’s the best — check it out. That is all!
Hyperpop majesties — Guerilla Toss; photographed by Ebru Yildiz.
Charli XCX
I love her music. It’s super fun and extreme and dense, and it sounds amazing. I really want to like pop music, but most of it is SO safe. I’ll listen, but there’s not enough odd choices and weird shit to keep me truly engaged. I respect the current pop minimalist thing with only trap beats and vox, Billy Eilish, whatever. I’m down with it. But I’ve always been a MAXIMALIST. Thus, I’m super big on all things hyperpop and that influence is clear on our new record. I refer to our new single "Famously Alive" as hyperpunk because it’s an extreme jammer. It’s a Punk song about a Pop-punk song, soaked in autotune and with ten million guitars. It’s a confusing one - not sure people are really digging this track yet — but maybe they’ll come around to it. Someone was complaining on our Instagram that the song is not punk and sounds like Indy Christian hyperpop. Love it. Anyway, it’s fun to see pop music being pushed to the extreme again. I really dig “Next Level Charli”, the opening track on her Charli album. Love the synths, the big drop with the little drums, the relentless mantra-like vocal hook. The whole record just kicks ass. PSYCHED for her new record dropping this month.
Hiking
Kassie, Watley (our chow chow dog), and I live on a mountain in the sky in the middle of nowhere, upstate NY. It’s the best. We’re super fortunate to live in the greatest place ever. The summer here is paradise. During Covid times summer 2020, while writing Famously Alive, I spent a lot of time in the woods, going on day hikes. I’m not an expert hiker and don’t love camping. I prefer a 4-8 mile hike segued into a deep lying on the couch with Ben & Jerrys hang. I find that I get the best ideas when I’m deep in the woods. Like I’ll be an hour into a hike, and I start singing a melody in my head and then a cool beat or riff pops up. When I get home I record it and then a song starts. Nature is healing and inspiring. Famously Alive is about Living. I spent a decade in a self destructive downward spiral and made it out alive. Not everyone gets so lucky. Young people like to go hard because it’s easier to be a nihilist garbage head than to believe in anything. I get it. I think kids like taking drugs not because they want to feel less, but because they want to feel more. Modern times don’t promote feeling things, they promote doing things. It’s confusing for sensitive types. That’s why GT is here to push living famously instead of dying tragically. There’s zero glory in dying young — fuck that — end rant.
Famously Alive, the new album by Guerilla Toss will be available March 25 via Sub Pop.