The English have always been the best at post punk. Bands
who have been around from the beginning like PiL, Gang of Four, The Fall, and
The Pop Group all still exist. Of those 4 though I’d say only The Fall are
still making music worth listening to.
Gad Whip are a new band here to add to the legacy. I’m not sure if they
seek to be torch bearers or simply wanted to make some music that shows their
influences. Side A of “Breakdown Test” is very derivative of those 80s groups;
although “Fish Vehicle” displays that they like industrial music from the same
era too. ‘Derivative’ doesn’t mean ‘bad’ either; it just wasn’t anything new.
For instance “Car Crash TV” might as well be a PiL song. As a homage to past
groups Gad Whip did great. Side B is where things get interesting. The band
shows their creative side on a single 15ish minute long track called “The
Argument” which features a song built around an audio sample of two lovers
fighting. I hope they continue to push more in the direction I heard from that
track on future projects. I’ll be listening.
Stream + Buy: https://gadwhip.bandcamp.com/album/breakdown-test
-- Roy Blumenfeld