Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased tracks, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Each and every Friday we offer songs by local artists. Today’s selection, featured on the Morning Show with John Richards, is “Jungle” by Ganglians from their upcoming 2011 release, Still Living, on Lefse Records (available August 23).
It’s taken them two years to follow up their full-length and EP, both released in 2009, but Ganglians still holds true to the psychedelic roots. The Sacramento band, consisting of Ryan Grubbs, Kyle Hoover, Alex Sowles, and Adrian Comenzind, met as friends first and formed somewhat haphazardly, basically to back an early “solo” show by Ryan Grubbs. They quickly came together, sharing a mutual appreciation for similar sounds -- like noise-pop and psychedelia -- and took the name Ganglians as a hybrid of “gang” and “aliens” (at least it’s better than “Gang of Aliens”!). After releasing the self-titled, self-recorded EP and a more produced yet still highly experimental album, Monster Head Room, Ganglians set down with producer Robby Moncrieff (who also lent a hand to Dirty Projectors’ Bitte Orca) and have created another album that will appeal to fans of Woods and the Beach Boys alike.
“Jungle, ” the first single from the forthcoming album, swells with a surf saturated aesthetic and rides along a robust yet simple melody set to an easygoing yet slightly sexy rhythm. The vocals from Grubbs take a backseat, nay a passenger seat to the instrumentation, sharing the spotlight as naturally as the layers upon layers of instrumentation culminate in the carefree swirl of of the song. The forthcoming album will be available this August, and as of now, no details are known about and upcoming tour. Their label promises, though, that they’ll be on the road following the album’s release. Until then, check out the video for today’s featured song below, and check in with their MySpace page for updates on their whereabouts.
