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Review: Gaggle - From the Mouth of the Cave [Album]

Transgressive // 'for its moments of musical beauty this album shouldn't be ignored'

by BenG_Writes, June 12th, 2012 and has been Read 891 times.
Last Edited by: Jack Stovin June 12th, 2012.

Twenty-one strong and dripping in synchronized peculiarity, Gaggle's debut album From the Mouth of the Cave certainly has its moments, but lacks the inspiration such a set-up promises.

Formed in late 2008 by Deborah Coughlin and aided by her writing partner Simon Dempsey, Gaggle is actually made up of women from all walks of life including metalworkers, writers, nurses and designers. From the Mouth of The Cave is the first album from the girls and immediately stands out for its distinctive take on the standard 'girl-choir', but never pushes what could be an epoch-making debut beyond the established forms.

WATCH // Gaggle - 'Army of Birds'

The album has real strength in the blending harmonies; with little doubt that each singer could hold their own in some kind of a 'The Voice' based competition. The final track 'Leave The City' captures the potential of what such a large ensemble can do, however it's the instrumental side of the music that lets the album down, bringing nothing but drab Florence and the Machine style pop harmonies for half the album while layering dull synth-style melodies over the other.

The key problem behind the range of voices is that they aren't put to enough use; whereas The Polyphonic Spree or Arcade Fire seem to expand with each note, Gaggle choose to focus the angelic singing into just a few notes, denying the group the overall musical spectrum on which they could weave magic.

With offers from shows like Britain's Got Talent, it would be easy to brush Gaggle off as a novelty act, but to give them their dues this album points to an originality that suggests they have their best work ahead of them. Maybe it's simply that the band are yet to find their sound with such a large set-up, although their European tour performing a reworking of the 1969 opera 'The Brilliant and The Dark' should have given the group some time to gel.

[Some sort of crazy clothing gang-bang is going on here]

The lyrics in From the Mouth of the Cave is where the bands relative youth shows up, with 'Liar' featuring some of the most basic and inane lyrics you'll hear this year. 'Happy is the Country' fares better lyrically but again the musical force behind such powerful voices is tawdry, with little in the way of original or exceptional artistry.

So there is still a space to watch marked Gaggle, but this debut lacked the emotional impact expected of a band voted among the '50 most innovative acts' by NME in 2012. From the Mouth of the Cave definitely gives the listener a teaser of great things, and for its moments of musical beauty this album shouldn't be ignored, maybe just viewed as a stepping stone to greater things.

To find out more visit Gaggle's website here or Facebook here.

From the Mouth of The Cave is released June 25th on Transgressive Records.