Reviews:: Glory Glory Man United ZOMBIES!

For most people, a feel good pop song is one with an insanely repetitive chorus, uptempo beats and any chance to shout along. For kids that grew up in the 90′s, that perfect pop song was built from angular guitars, energy and intricate signature and chord progressions. As much as movies and skewed memories try to convince us otherwise, hot summer days weren’t spent in the surf, but more likely futilely grinding casket shaped slabs of wood over curbs or olleying up over them before hiding from the heat in some wood paneled basement.
That’s why Glory Glory Man United may have created the ultimate summer CD with their equally ambitious and nostalgic ZOMBIES! Sun-kissed melodies and Beach Boys-inspired harmonies are largely forgotten, and in their place is a foundation of guitar, bass and drums that beats down on you like the inescapable heat. GGMU still trigger those epic moments; you can almost feel the scorching sun hitting your face on the one-two punch of “Zombies” and “First Monkey Shot Into Space”, but the Halifax trio seems better suited to recreating that comforting ennui that really dominated most of our time. For most slackers from decades past, summer often dissolved into boring days punctuated by a few killer parties that you may not even get invited to. Indie rock wasn’t a hit with jocks and frat bros, and certainly wasn’t helping you get in tight with the prom queen.
But what really helps GGMU stand out is they never let ZOMBIES! become just another in the long line of loner record fueled by alienation and confusion. Instead of banging out a lo-fi bedroom record, ZOMBIES! feels like the remarkably polished and precise evolution of countless summer jam sessions when close friends crank up the amps and leave the garage door open, killing time and exploring new sounds. It’s not hard to picture Adam, Gavin and Ryan years ago wasting summer days saying shit like, “we should write a Q and Not U or Husker Du-ish song today” or “I wrote a hook that kind of sounds like Mission of Burma” but with ZOMBIES! they firmly define their sound and have written a record that local slacker kids will cop and try to imitate in the years to come. Ain’t that what summer’s really all about?
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MP3:: Glory Glory Man United – Pop Song Automaton
MYSPACE:: http://www.myspace.com/ggmu
This entry was posted on Friday, July 2nd, 2010 at 10:17 am and is filed under 2010, Canada, Halifax, Music, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.





