Track 8: Starting and Staring - Gustaf
Why? What? Jeez...
Gustaf makes the type of post-punk art rock I can’t get enough of - a collection of nonstop contradictions: catchy and challenging, intellectual and silly, hooks and diversions, minimalist and maximalist. Their album this year (The Package Part 2) had a few standouts, but Starting and Staring was the one I keep coming back to the most.
Why? That bassline for one. The way the song kicks off with background chatter of the bandmates only to have lead singer Lydia Gammil shout out “WHY?” to nobody in particular. More chatter. “WHAT?” she asks. She hears something else. “JEEZ…”
What did she here? I don’t know. We’ll never know, but it prompts a JEEZ, and that’s enough for me. It frankly tickles me.
So to quote another Gustaf song - WHAT DOES IT MEAN? I think it’s written from the point of view of a mirror, which is a fascinating concept for a song. When you stare at the mirror, what if the mirror stares back into you? What would it see?
Think about that as you tap your toes and shout along. It’s not that deep, and yet it is.
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