Krod Records – 20 May 2022
As their FB page says “Pop punk with a keytar vibe“
I’m just gonna put this out there now: Basement Gary is all over the board. This French band trucks heavily in power pop with a dash of the more chart-friendly pop punk style, replete with keyboards, but they don’t constrain themselves to that label. They are regularly loading up their songs with some very technical and tight guitars and, at points, expressing anything from post-punk to melodic hardcore to what comes across as maybe like… club music?
The synth-heavy tone is definitely established on 30-second long opener “Hi, I’m Gary”, before rolling straight into “What I Can’t Get”, full of power pop and vocal melodies. The percussion throughout regularly alternates between electronic and acoustic drums in the songs, so if that isn’t your thing, you’re probably not going to dig this album.
“The Ghost of You and I” evokes the best that The Postal Service ever put out, but there’s enough yelling going on at points to make it its own thing. Pre-release single “Like a Millionaire” seems fairly straight-forward at first glance, but actually has a lot of intricate composition under the hood. I have a sneaking suspicion that this band has a lot of fun putting these songs together.
The next track is likely the biggest outlier. “Let Me Breathe” is 100% melodic skatepunk/hardcore. I’m assuming that, on the vinyl, this is the last song on side A, and it is a shock to the system compared to the previous tracks, but a welcome one, to be sure.
“Nanana” is the second shortest on the album (not including “The Voice Mail Interlude”, which doesn’t really count), but the band surprisingly packs a lot in to those 45 seconds and, not to beat a dead cheval, but if you can’t imagine them laughing and just having a good old time when they put this song together, you’re probably dead inside.
“Alright, Goodbye, See You Next Time” is, technically the album closer (more on that in a second), and plays out more like an instrumental with the same verse repeated almost constantly (“I wanna say I want”) with some additional backing vocals. It is a moody way to end the album, very mesmerizing.
However, if you’ve purchased the CD or digital version off of Bandcamp, you get a bonus track “Are You Alone on Christmas Day?”, which is a peppy song that dramatically alters the end of the album if you have it. It changes the somber tone established by “Alright, Goodbye…” into something a lot more peppy and cheerful.That’s pretty much the story of Basement Gary. Sure there are some songs that don’t simply bleed joy and fun, but with their 8-bit antics and clever composition, it is hard not to grin when you hear these songs. On the flipside, I can see how this definitely is not for everyone. If the idea that a pop punk band and a NES cartridge had a kid and named it Casio SK-1 doesn’t appeal to you, then you probably should give this a pass. For everyone else, definitely take this album for a spin.
the white drew carey (aka – Jeff Sorley) is the founder and head editor of TGEFM. He’s lived (outside of) Chicago, Madison WI, (ugh) Penn State, Lyon FR, Oxford UK, central New Jersey, and now within earshot of SFO in the Bay Area. When not scouring the web for more great bands and labels to post about, he also spends time drawing (mostly) silly sci-fi and anime stuff under the name Asplenia Studios.
