GAY AGAINST YOU are the enthusiastic, messy and very, very friendly duo of Lachlann Rattray and Joseph Howe. They are influenced by The Minutemen, Magma and other bands beginning with 'M'. Regardless of these influences, we tend to agree with Terrorizer that they sound a bit like "a council estate Butthole Surfers".

Gay Against You formed about three years ago in Glasgow and now essentially live on tour. Their live show is always a revelation, often involving craft paper pyrotechnics, crowd surfing, on the spot jogging and hearts being sung out. It's this ecstatic grasp of the wonderful and the unexpected that helps them write their music.

'RIGHTEOUS SIGNALS, SOUR DUDES'

Wall Wizards

UTR028 | LP | 15 tracks, 40 mins | June 2009

With 'Righteous Signals, Sour Dudes', Joe and Lachlann have written a new album which leaps and bounds over their debut 'Musclemilk', released in 2007 by Adaadat. The dual title is symbolic of the struggle for creative compromise and two pals who are still learning how to work together - they couldn't agree, so they named it twice - it works out. Similarly, the music clashes too, it strikes bargains and agrees to disagree. The album finds progressive rock trying to sit alongside synth-pop and afrobeat, whilst disco bumps into hardcore, before transcending tropically. There's a lot going on but somehow it makes sense.

Album opener "Cruisin" is a reckless, careering 8-bit punk sideswipe, with hollered words and an ardent keyboard line. "Geomancer" is a bubbling brew of stammering beats and coupled vocals. "Stranded In Jurassic Park" tells the tale of buddies chased by dinosaurs into the path of five desert dwelling aggressors over a pulsating call and response track, which shape shifts with every line. The band try their hand at epic balladry with "Glorious Dawn2, whilst "Magic Eye" is a breakneck pop song lost amidst the pogo and guitar wrangle. 'Righteous Signals, Sour Dudes' is an album about unsatisfactory magic, testing friendships and Niels Bohr. It is also a record about forgetting boundaries and forgiving fun.

During the making of this album, Gay Against You played many hundred shows across Europe. They've toured constantly playing some less than likely spaces including caves, cellars, boats, roofs and even on the banks of a fjord. They've had their passports stolen, gone through 20 odd costumes, two guitars, two keyboards and two laptops, broken their teeth and fallen from tall speakers onto unsuspecting pianos. They want to thank everyone who's helped them along the way, and they more than do that with this record.

Tracklist:

Side Righteous (A)

1. Cruisin’
2. Stranded In Jurassic Park
3. Niels Bohr
4. Victory Quix
5. Mining For Salt
6. Righteous Signals
7. Wall Wizards

Side Dudes (B)

1. Unit II
2. Glorious Dawn
3. Sour dudes
4. Geomancer
5. Leg Of Lamb Of God
6. Magic Eye
7. Spooked Channels