KAUA'I O'O A'A

Following their recent signing to?FatCat, the challengingly-titled?'KAUA'I O'O A'A' sees Gentle?Friendly step up a level with a?fantastic new album, and their?first release in over two years.?Punchy, restlessly energetic and?densely-detailed, it is a cracking,?insistent little record and sounds?like little else being made right?now. Gentle Friendly are the?London-based duo of David?Maurice and Richard Manber,?whose penchant for circular?melodies, tidal fuzz and rapid?junked rhythms is delivered via?an austere instrumental setup of?vocals, Casio MT-40 keyboard?and drums (sometimes?electronic), alongside an array of tapes and electronics.?Driven relentlessly forward by Manber's bustling, frenetic beats and Maurice's distinctive?vocal phrasing - clipped, overlaid, structurally repetitive, informed by his creative writing?practice - the record is a snarling, bustling, expansive sprawl . Urgent and insistent;?adventurously skewed and complex while underpinned by strong melodic hooks, you?might catch glimpses of the visceral sonic / rhythmic chaos of early Animal Collective; the?fractured melodic sensibility of punk experimentalists like Wire and This Heat; as well as?hearing the influence of the loop-based electronics and sample-experimentation of?post-rock pioneers like Disco Inferno and Seefeel or more modern dance splinter genres?like juke / footwork and wonky. The band also cite the influences of Kendrick Lamar, Killer?Mike, Black Dice, Boredoms, Guided By Voices, La Dusseldorf and The Minutemen.?The title KAUA'I O'O A'A comes from the Hawaiian bird, which was named after the eerie,?echoey sound it makes whose population declined drastically during the 20th century?following the islands' cultivation after the arrival of Europeans. In 1981 just a single pair?remained. The female was lost following Hurricane Iwa in 1982, and the sole remaining?male's hollow, haunting, flute-like calls were last heard in 1987. The band felt the title?seemed perfect for the record. It looks good and feels good to say. The last known field?recording of the species - a mating call by that last remaining male appears on '18 Wave?Crash'. Our record is nowhere near that sad but the story seemed to resonate somehow.?TRACKLISTING?1. Wild Grass?2. Love and Weather?3. Shake Up?4. Autumn Nite?5. Bury Um Deep?6. Infinite Return?7. Channel One?8. Rip B?9. No Future?10. 18 Wave Crash?11. As In Wind?12. Mics On Fire?13. Cloudbusting II