I was prepared to be disappointed on my first listen of Girls Pissing On Girls Pissing’s, Scrying in Infirmary Architecture. From the album’s two preceding singles ‘A Fraud Abroad’ and ‘Rainbow Islands’ it seemed like the Auckland 5-piece had abandoned the heavier, skramz-influenced aspects of their sound in favour of a more accessible psychedelic aesthetic, but even a quick listen to their sophomore release reveals that, if anything, GPOGP have gotten more brutal and discordant since 2013’s Eeling.
Bass takes a central role here, especially on the tracks ‘The Twelfth House’ and ‘Pollen Moon’ both of which feature relentless, unadorned rhythm tracks at their core. On this base GPOGP have built an eerie temple of discordant post-punk guitar, unsettling synths and a vocal variety that covers everything from Orchid to This Heat to The Breeders.
This diversity of vocal styles is reflective of the band’s broader philosophy of genre non-conformance, and for me this is what cements this album as one of the year’s best so far. Even the singles which I found initially disappointing fit beautifully into the album’s diverse fabric, with ‘Rainbow Islands’ slipping in ahead of Dick Diver’s ‘Leftovers’ as frontrunner in the race for Sax Solo of the Year and ‘A Fraud Abroad’ turning out to be the song I’d always wanted to write about vacuous travellers.
This album treads the boundaries between the material and the mystic with the same elegance that it balances melody and discord, and in its harmony it might just be a masterpiece.
Review by Hugh Manning
best album i’ve heard this year, by far!
Auckland’s Girls Pissing On Girls Pissing doesn’t exist in a void, yet they manage to present a distinctive. A self-directed video has been unveiled by Auckland four-piece Sunken Seas as they near the release date for sophomore album Glass.