Considering their several year hiatus and the continued success of Bon Allinson and Puma Navarro’s spinoff project A Drug Called Tradition, the return of heavy psych stalwarts Abby Gogo may seem surprising. But unfinished business can be a powerful motivator, and with the band sitting on a stack of songs that reflected the true creative aspirations of the band at its peak, it seemed a shame to forgo the opportunity to put that music out into the world.
“We always knew we wanted to be a shoegaze band and explore the genre,” explains guitarist and vocalist Jon Allinson. “With the newer stuff we were writing at the time we wanted to branch out into a heavier realm. Explore more fuzz textures and have a bit more depth than the jangly stuff we started out with.”
Recorded at the band’s home studio before their dissolution in 2014, Abby Gogo’s sophomore album A Perfect Whatever has been a long time coming. Featuring seven tracks, it promises to be the trio’s defining work, utilizing textured shoegaze riffs and driving psych rock grooves to tackle themes of loss and existential dread. This sense of darkness and heartbreak has been central to the group’s identity since their inception, but according to Allinson, detailing all that gloom can be a cathartic experience. “Revisiting these songs really reminds me of the beauty that can come out of the dark,” he says. “We were young when we wrote this album so some of it seems kind of silly, but I think the theme has always been very similar with the band. I would say the album really deals with the human desire [for] self-destruction.”
For fans of the group, A Perfect Whatever presents the chance to finally hear some of the band’s most potent material in recorded form. This is certainly true of “Poor and Money,” a blistering rager of a track that Abby Gogo often used to close out their sets. The version we’re treated to here maintains that live intensity, unfurling in a frenzied coil of thunderous guitars and pulse-pounding drums. But amidst all that feverish clamor lurks a surprisingly taut melodic core, as well as a feeling of thematic purpose that helps shape the album’s ominous subject matter.
“‘Poor and Money’ is probably the closest thing to a political song we have ever put together,” Allinson says. “It touches on some of the uglier side of the human condition such as greed and the desire to be right.”
Listen below.
A Perfect Whatever is out tomorrow.
Abby Gogo will celebrate the release of A Perfect Whatever on Sat., June 23 at 529 alongside The Harlequins, Ttotals, MammaBear, and Nag. Doors open at 9 p.m. Admission is $8. 21+ to enter.
More Info
Bandcamp: abbygogo.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @abbygogo
Twitter: @abby_gogo