Live Review: REVIEW: Gung Ho 'Anywhere Else' EP

When trying to discover the ins and outs of Brisbane act GUNG HO, you do not find your regular description of how the band came to be. Most bands would say, “we started in a garage,” or “we’re a rock band from Brisbane who are always interested in blah blah blah,” but GUNG HO somehow shoved so many Seinfeld references into their band description that they are now pretty much the show themselves.

But if you knew the band, you’d know that the trio are one of many Brisbane bands that are rocking the indie scene at the moment. Along with their compatriots JUNGLE GIANTS and MILLIONS, GUNG HO have produced some sweet melodies throughout their time and now I’m here to take you through their new EP Anywhere Else and show you what these kids are made of.

AUTUMN

A chirpy guitar riff opens the five-track album with a steady drum beat following it in. Synths glide over the bass and drums blending in with the guitars and producing a very indie track with an electronic streak. The light vocals also bring up the mood of the track and the whole thing just sounds so nice.

‘Autumn’ is a nice track for a sunny day with friends because of its light-hearted feel and sounds lovely. A dance element is definitely present too so if you’re in the mood for a little shaking of the tukus, than ‘Autumn’ would work perfectly for you. GUNG HO have produced a lovely little dance track, now excuse me while I go and dance to it in my lounge room.

TWIN RAYS

The second track on Anywhere Else most definitely pulls through the light hearted-ness of ‘Autumn’ into its area. The guitar intro is picked with a nice tune with the drums beating slowly and calmly behind it. ‘Twin Rays’ is a calmer track than ‘Autumn’ which would work well considering how happy the first track is. ‘Twin Rays’ is a relaxation song after the party that is ‘Autumn’ skims past.

The harmonies on this track seem to sound soft and also slightly eerie as they remind you more of ghosts, quite like a few other tracks that I’ve heard lately which is interesting. But it works for GUNG HO, the eerie vocals coincide with the trickling guitars to create a nice track that I still thoroughly enjoy. I honestly feel like right now I sound like a judge on a television game show so I’m just gonna bring out my inner bogan and say – it’s a bloody smooth track mate!

BRUSCA

Now I don’t know what ‘Brusca’ means but it’s sounds tasty, and this track opens with some pretty tasty drums so I don’t think I’m that far off the mark. The drums bang in loud and full but instead of staying at the same level from that first second, it fades in which kind of gives you an easy way into ‘Brusca’ rather than being shoved in. ‘Brusca’ brings the dance back into Anywhere Else, but with lyrics like “It won’t get in easy”, the track begins to have some sort of sinister attitude hidden beneath the poppy melodies.

The track is still fantastic and but now all I see is a bear chasing someone through a forest at night – actually its someone wearing a bear head. I could totally write the music video for this! GUNG HO are the indie band of today and ‘Brusca’ shows that by mixing the dance/electronic/pop music with dark lyrics that sound like something could go wrong at any minute. I like the fact that bands today can mix two different things like this together.

STRANGERS

‘Strangers’ fades in ever so slowly and surely, which makes it pretty clear to me that GUNG HO love a good fade. The vocals on this track stand out quite a lot with great harmonies flowing together throughout the track. The chorus is very uplifting and make you feel very warm and fuzzy. Considering this track is called ‘Strangers’, I’d say this warm and fuzzy feeling could come from a stranger giving you a wonderful compliment, GUNG HO if that’s what you were going for you’ve hit the nail right on the head.

Throughout this album I’ve learnt that GUNG HO have a talent for expressing moods, however the moods and music tend to contradict each other somehow because the music would be nice and chirpy, but the mood would be dark like the ocean at night. ‘Strangers’ kind of captures that feeling the best I think – even though I’m probably contradicting what I just said – but still, it’s how GUNG HO has made me feel.

SIDE BY SIDE

The last track on the album of which sounds pretty steady and smooth, similar to ‘Twin Rays’ however ‘Side By Side’ kind sounds like it could be best listened to on the move. With that deep bass pulsing through the track, you are reminded of a car moving, or of your feet pounding against the ground as you run.

The guitars sound light, like they have throughout the album, and the high, whispering vocals echo throughout ‘Side By Side’ sounding in fact, far away. The drums in this track work very well with the cymbals being used quite a bit, pounding through the closing track. GUNG HO have created an album that is very smooth and although it has some energetic, and dance parts Anywhere Else is predominantly a cruisey album with poppy melodies that somehow produce a dark and yet ghostly album with twinkling guitars that shine light on the tracks. If Anywhere Else was a colour, it would be navy blue because it’s a colour that is dark, yet somehow magical and that’s pretty much GUNG HO’s album in a nutshell.

You can purchase the full release now via iTunes

Words by Lauren Payne

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