Three years since their last record VOR, the German outfit formerly called Tourette Boys comes back swinging. Thanks, I Hate It drops Friday through Exile On Mainstream, and the title tells you everything about where their heads are at.
Gavial guitarist/vocalist Benjamin Butter, drummer Conrad Brod, bassist Paul Kollascheck, and guitarist Paul-Willy Stoyan have been working the Berlin–Dresden–Leipzig triangle, writing as a proper four-piece this time around. When Kollascheck came in for VOR, most of those songs were already done. Now the bass has room to breathe, push, and reshape what Gavial actually sounds like.
The record moves however it wants. Opener “Control” works minimalist, fusing soundscapes around a monologue that chews through hierarchy, morality, governments turning violence on their own people, and the mess of making decisions when everything’s crooked. “Koru Mindset” kicks into up-tempo territory for the first time in the band’s run, all rhythm and beat. The tempo feels happy, almost uplifting. At first glance, this is a stark contrast to the lyrical theme. But more and more it becomes clear that this probably is what is going on in your favorite billionaire’s head: happy days while planning your next commercial space flight with your wealthy friends.
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“Pretender” takes a cynical swing at the whole “how to be rich and successful” racket, landing on the conclusion that if every strategy fails, you can still fake everything. The idea for the lyrics comes from the many instructors and coaches online trying to sell you the ten secret rules on how to live your life, while pretending to be free of any rules. This is a modern day Ponzi Scheme. Spoiler warning: they just want your money.
“Grow” taps into classic blues, the kind of thing the band plays when they need a break in the rehearsal space. An exercise in leaving space. A very reduced drum pattern, a repetitive bass, guitars just interspersing little phrases. In the end all these parts are compressed in a drony and sticky outro, which steadily moves towards a sudden conclusion.
“Leviathan” sprawls into long psychedelic territory, asking a question most of us have stopped asking out loud: are we not all tired of social media and the flood of disinformation that comes with the use of modern technologies? The lyrics shift from addressing a machine like ChatGPT — “I have reached out, for your wisdom / To guide me through the days” — towards the audience: “Is this really what / we all agreed to do?” The band is concerned about the future of humanity where no more digital or analogue stories are left to share.
“Wandern” reworks an older song that’s been a cornerstone of their live sets. From the day that Paul joined on bass, this song got so much more depth and texture. That’s why they decided to release it again as a four-piece band. The album closes with a cover of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game,” taken up-tempo and rethought from a new perspective. Taking this track and rethinking it made the song feel very natural to them.
The whole thing was recorded in their rehearsal space, mixed by Butter — who also handled the cover art and videos — and mastered by Bernard Camillieri at Xekillton Studios in Malta. The album is a reaction to a world burning; societies fueled by hate; technologies drifting away from serving humanity; militarism rising once again; human rights ignored or unrealized; institutions riddled with corruption; and individuals claiming the wealth of all for themselves.
“Thanks, I Hate It is Gavial’s answer to the state the world is in.”
The record hit Friday, January 23rd via Exile On Mainstream, pressed on black vinyl bundled with a CD and digitally. The band has two shows lined up at Blue Moon Winterfest next week — January 30th at Lausitzer 86 in Finsterwalde and January 31st at Comicaze in Cottbus — and they’re booking a German release tour for May.
