No great surprise to see The Gala hailing from Boston seeing as the place seems to just ooze quality Garage punk rock and Power Pop and the Gala are all those things. Raw guitar riffs and swirling keyboard licks all wrapped up in songs with energy and melody.
Emily Doran has a rasp on her vocals they’re not sugary sweet nor are they rough as Wendy O Williams but somewhere in between as one track body slams into the next with songs like ‘Blood Orange’ having a hypnotic riff and that Captain Sensible two-fingered keyboard lick and some fine tunage is born.
Once it finishes ‘Crybaby (Dream Of Me)’ kicks in sounding like early Blondie a little which is a great place to find yourself trust me. But the Gala isn’t a one trick pony because ‘Fragile’ is a neat slice of punk rock or New Wave punk pop if you like. It fizzes along on a rock solid drum beat and the throbbing bass line is cool with just the right amount of keyboard stabs on the chorus but don’t get too comfortable because what did you expect Shes Fuckin’ Fragile. Alright, we’ll have some of that and its a great scream at the end.
‘Boy’ is sweaty and the highlight of a very enjoyable record as it builds to the chorus. To be fair as far as debut albums go this ones very decent with a great ebb and flow to the whole record, At times they have the organ stabs of The Fuzztones but the rhythm and distorted guitar is way more punk rock Ramones style at times I heard Lena Lovich fronting Da Brothers which is a weird proposition I’m sure you’d agree but that’s where this is pitching itself at times.
I like the rawness of the guitar its got plenty of punch and is often at odds with the keyboards on tracks like the Abrasive ‘Blood Orange’ it then has the keyboard melody whilst the rest of the song speeds off in another direction – that’s not to say I don’t like it because that’s not the case but it does take some getting used to. With no new video ready you’re going to have to take my word for it.
To end the record the band take you on a punky ‘Pity Party’ but end the record with a really strong song in the shape of the hard rocking ‘The Spins’ that has a great pogo riff that makes you want to curl your hand into a fist and start pumping the air as the band rocks out showing they’re most certainly not a one trick pony and can dance to a few styles and its a great vocal delivery to end on as well. So remember the name and its safe to say it’s not all ‘Bad News’ because The Gala brings some good news.
Author: Dom Daley
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