We’re glad to announce that Minneapolis, United States-based garage-prog band Galactapus have released a new music video for their song, “Waking The Troll.”
Although they’re avid music collectors, Galactapus’ inspirations are more esoteric and elemental–water, gravity, birds, wind, aluminum foil, etc. Galactapus create music with a reason to exist, which they consider an increasingly high bar; and despite being a vocal group, their songs have no meaningful words. This abstract approach to lyrics is also present in their music, which reviewers have compared to Can, the Residents, Chrome, and the Butthole Surfers among others.
Galactapus members remain nameless and faceless by request, and for myriad reasons live appearances are presently impossible. Happily, they believe their music and mystique likely benefit from this discretion. All recordings, artwork and filming is 100% contained in the Galactapus house, and their music is created only with analog equipment, tape and tubes; the band’s most modern equipment is from the 80s, but is mostly from the 60s and 70s.
Describing Galactapus’ influences and their creative process, the band writes:
“The Galactapus house serves as a sanctuary for creatives in mental health crises, which is how we’re acquainted. These struggles, however, I maintain are the least interesting part about them individually. The safety of Galactapus members is the primary reason for their anonymity. The song is about home, recorded partially in our garden with the birds. Although the passing of seasons, and its inherent metaphor of change and life cycles is on display, the birdsong represents spring, healing and rebirth. But there’s nothing cerebral on display, just emotional impressions. We compose with synesthesia, when sensory stimuli hit the wrong passage ways, i.e. tasting colors or hearing shapes. It’s a real thing, and we consider ourselves unique conduits. So, there are no meaningful words in Galactapus songs, we try to divorce our music from the trappings of language. But our ears perk up when we hear the timbre of the human voice, so singing is a vital instrument. From birth, we remember the voice sound separate from word meaning. We also remember a mother’s face. Galactapus is ultimately an aural entity. We’re also faceless though, so that hit is disorienting.”
“Waking The Troll” is the fourth music film from last year’s critically lauded (but alas, underselling) I Intend To Stay LP. Regarding their new video, one Galactapus member says, “Waking The Troll is about the feeling of home and the turn of the seasons. And the tranquility, the nostalgia, tumult and terror that pass with it all. There’s elements of arthouse horror, with shades of a hippie death cult happening. Which in some measure describes the Galactapus household.”
A different Galactapus member interjects, “The lyric doesn’t address any of this naturally, it’s our normal glossolalia jibberish that you’ve come to expect from us. But the video follows suit, in its way, as an impressionistic thing. Just layers of images crawling across eachother to suggest feelings familiar and frightening. The song was a collaborative venture with the birds in our backyard, after which we composed with our collective synesthesfeia. It’s always been a special song for us, and it’s a fan fave, so we’re happy to furnish everyone with this film.”
“Waking The Troll” begins with the peaceful sound of birds chirping, while a retro-sounding synth soon joins in, its droning notes creating a harmoniously psychedelic atmosphere that is sustained by the hypnotic rhythms of the drums. The lyricless vocals then add their dynamic melodies to “Waking The Troll,” bringing about an intriguing feel while at times also recalling Damo Suzuki’s freeform lyricism with Can. A distorted electric keyboard riff midway through the track foreshadows a similar melody, later played by a bell-like percussion instrument while accompanied by staccato, string-like synth notes. Electric keyboards and guitars then join in, harmonizing nicely with each other before buzzy, electronic-sounding synth effects take over and lead into the track’s wonderfully chaotic conclusion.“ Waking The Troll” is quite an enjoyable listen, reflecting Galactapus’ brilliant songwriting and superb musicianship. I would highly recommend this track, as well as its creative accompanying music video, to fans of progressive- and psychedelic rock alike.
Don’t forget to support this project and to follow on Facebook, SoundCloud, YouTube, and Spotify. You can also check out their official website. If you enjoy their music and are able to provide monetary support, you might consider downloading it on Bandcamp.
You can obviously find it in the following Playlists: Less Than 1,000 Followers, Alterindie State Of Mind, and Sickest & Dopest.
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This coverage was created via MusoSoup #Sustainablecurator
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Music enthusiast and Phish fan, who especially enjoys listening to stoner-, psychedelic-, and space rock