Chicago quartet Ganser was formed in 2014, embracing college art rock, post-punk, and noise. Taking influence from the no wave din of acts like Sonic Youth and contemplative post-punk like Magazine, they dive deep into where words fail on their debut LP Odd Talk following 2016’s This Feels like Living. Their amorphous sound takes on the form of their comedically grim, absurdist subject matter. Seeking meaning in mess, they sort through syllables and signals to find the right words. When’s the last time you called your mother? Ganser is Alicia Gaines, Brian Cundiff, Nadia Garofalo, and Charlie Landsman.
Full album releases April 20th, 2018 on No Trend Records.
“Satsuma” unravels and splinters, a looming centerpiece off the band’s debut album, Odd Talk, out April 20th on No Trend Records, but contains a commanding and withdrawn presence. “The keening anxiety present on other tracks…turns into reservation here, coming out the other side as a swaggering warning against expectations and showing your hand in a time of uncertainty. It is a song to feel big when you feel small.”
Digging further into the song’s message, Gaines doesn’t mince words. “Being alive, you can’t help but be affected by your environment, even if unintentionally. The chorus of ‘Satsuma’ refers to words spoken by a dangerous idiot referring to the inauguration crowd in 2017,” she states of the song, which not only carries a profound weight of doomed universality but scarred intimacy.
The Fat Angel Sings 