Gimic: Defer To Hate 7″

Description

Whats this?! A new direction of hardcore punk?! Gimic have a tightly-wound funkiness to them reminiscent of the Minutemen and one of my all time underrated favourites – Warehouse. They also have the POWER and AGGRO WEIRDNESS of all your favourite modern weirdo hardcore favourites, plus a slight TSOL spookiness to them. Its a great mix. Great drumming/guitars/and shit on this record and Harriet is sound fucking rad on vocals. Theyre from Bristol so you know theyve got the crusty credentials to back this level of OG punk wizardry. Worth spending your money and time on. – Hamish Adams

Our take: Crew Cuts Records brings us the debut from this punk band from Bristol, England, and its a strikingly original and vital record. Any comparison is bound to feel off the mark because Gimic really just doesnt sound like anyone else I can think of. The official description mentions the Minutemen, and I guess thats a good place to start. I can certainly hear some of the Minutemens intuitive ensemble playing in Gimics music. The instruments seem to be in dialogue with one another rather than simply following one another, except when the group locks together tightly into sharp rhythms, as if to prove precisely how deliberate everything is. Gimic doesnt sound like the Minutemen, though, because they dont play like them. The bass, while busy and melodic, is never really funky. The guitarist clearly hasnt taken D Boons vow never to play power chords, but at the same time they are way more likely to be playing an intricate melodic line (that counters a different one happening on the bass) than hammering away on a chunky riff. The drummer feasts on the musics intertwining rhythms, referencing the guitar and bass parts alternately in ways that make the music seem even crazier and more complex. Then over that, the singer snarls these evocative, poetic social critiques with a raspy, shredded sound that reminds me of Ellie from Good Throb. All this is happening at once, and very quickly, which makes Defer to Hate feel daunting on the first listen, but spending a little time with these five songs offers so many rewards. If you love records that give off the same urgent, anything-is-possible spirit as the best late 70s and early 80s punk without sounding like anything else in your collection, I cant recommend Gimic highly enough.