After three albums as TOURETTE BOYS, two collaborations with Tim Holehouse and a split EP with label mates Gaffa Ghandi, the band delivers countless gigs and tours with bands such as Acid Mothers Temple, Dyse, Gaffa Ghandi, The Skull, True Widow and Sleepy Sun , now their fourth album under the new name GAVIAL.
VOR is once again characterized by the search for a contemporary expression of the blues without questioning its authenticity. Looking outside the box to ambient, soul, gospel and country, GAVIAL weave different threads into a carpet of sound that simply ignores the sharp cliffs of redundant categories such as retro or stoner.
The music doesn't need name dropping, but if you still want to make room in the thematically sorted record shelf, you're welcome to pack the compartments in which Screaming Trees, Flying Eyes, Black Crowes or Woodcocks are standing a little tighter so that GAVIAL can find space in them. Sorted alphabetically, VOR also cuts a fine figure between Gaffa Ghandi, Geraldine Fibbers and Giant Sand.
Lyrically, GAVIAL are cautiously concrete, exploring the ambivalent depths of the soul where there are more questions than answers. Singer Benjamin Butter intones lyrical sketches of emotional states between melancholy, quiet anger and hope, reminiscent of Charles Baudelaire, and turns the voice into another instrument. The interplay with driving bass lines and Americana-esque guitars results in music as it should be: melodic but not profane, accessible but with a fragile base.