In the immortal words of Chris Cornell: “I’m looking California but feelin’ Minnesota.” Those words that Cornell expressed back in the early 90s when us “weirdo” Northwesterners were mainstreamed by Grunge, are words that come to mind when I go on the trip that is listening to Minneapolis, Minnesota’s “Galactapus.” The nameless, faceless band that pushed us to the edge of our perceptions with “Waking The Troll” (our #LT1kF piece in January earlier this year) off of their album debut “I Intend To Stay” (released on Bandcamp in September of 2020) has returned with a brand-new mind altering single entitled, “The Lustful Arts.” It is a precursor to a second full-length album that is to be called, “The Rainbows of Wrong.” If you were to listen to the first album and their X-mas EP “You Better Not Cry,” released in December of 2021, you might wonder how or where they could possibly push the boundaries of their audible journey any further. If “The Lustful Arts” were to be any kind of indication, only what you can experience by listening to it would be your delightfully staggering answer. To call the band “experimental,” would be an understatement.
“The embryo of the song turned up on an old cassette from years past. It was a damaged old thing, an acoustic piece on treated guitars in impossible tuning. We just put some meat on its bones, added some cinematic flourishes and threw on some black metal vocals.”
Galactapus
As mentioned earlier, there is a full-length album set to be released. The release date is listed as January 13th, 2023 on Bandcamp. According to Galactapus.com, that is also the date it will be available on streaming services as well as available on CD. And as you might know from my previous writings in the past, I am on that CD revival kick a bit. It’s not quite as flush as my vinyl collection, but it is certainly in revival quantity these days. Speaking of vinyl, honorable side-note to mention here, as I was shopping around on the band’s Bandcamp and noticed that they have limited edition copies of the first album on vinyl at a killer price. That went right into my wish list. This is something I feel like I need to experience on vinyl. Pre-order the new album here:
Despite the kaleidoscopic nature of any Galactapus record, it’s pretty cohesive. It was designed as an album start to finish, rather than a loose collection of songs we wrote. It’s relative though. You’re still drinking from a firehose.
Galactapus
They approach music from a direction that is inherently cryptic. No overtly specific lyrical themes. Whereas some might find it dark, I actually find it very artistic. I’m kind of that type of listener. I really enjoy music that challenges you or bumps you a little bit out of your comfort zone. I find it absolutely fascinating how they incorporated Black Metal vocals on this song. As the band put it, “you’re drinking from a firehose” artistically. Definitely. It has been a WHILE since I was… of a more “experimental” age, gone to Burning Man, and expanded the “doors of my perception…” that kind of thing, but this video they put together here is enough to trigger a flashback. You should watch it in context for the full experience.
Galactapus is truly one of those bands that you can’t fit into a “box” or genre. There have been comparisons to The Residents, Can, Chrome, and Sun City Girls among others. However, the band has expressed the very intent to be “stand-alone” and “compelling” with their artistic expression. Kudos to that. I like it. If I were to try to best describe it just for the sake of putting something to word, in order to help the reader, discern what I’ve listened to, I would say that it’s like “Honey Pie” from the Beatles White Album, with Mick Jagger-ish raucousness from time to time, on a “Revolution 9” concept album, as penned by Roky Erikson. Generally. But in this specific song instead of Mick Jagger, they sang it Black Metal style. Then when you looked at me baffled and in sheer confusion, I would just say, “Here. Just shut up and listen to it.”
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 YouTube Playlists: Less Than 1,000 Followers, Alterindie State Of Mind, and Uknown But Essentials!
Remember that you can always find me here AMS Radio for all my social media and collaborations.
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