Album Review: The Eargoggle - The Eargoggle Regales, The Eargoggle Revels (2022)
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| Picture Credit: Ezra Gale |
This article's header reveals that the release on hand is something very special, and this is not (predominantly) about The Eargoggle's new double album being released via Brooklyn's label Very Special Recordings. The seventeen-track release "The Eargoggle Regales, The Eargoggle Revels" can be considered either a two-volume comic book featuring seventeen short stories and a soundtrack for each of them, or a seventeen-song double album with illustrations for each song. Which one it is shall be decided by the eyes of the beholders.
Nevertheless, this review will mainly focus on the musical sphere. Yet, be informed that the illustrations and the little stories that they convey are amazing. The artist has used different modern drawing styles for his seventeen various tales - some of them fantastic and quirky, others deeply emotional and very real. Comic lovers, get your copy on the artist's Bandcamp page - you won't regret!
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| Picture Credit: Ezra Gale |
First LP: The Eargoggle Regales
40:08
The double album's first part "The Eargoggle Regales" contains ten songs and it is opened by the fuzzy guitar sound of the dynamic anthem 'The Garden'. After this heavy introduction, guest vocalist Dina Maccabee takes the listeners on an emotional and sweetly melancholic sonic journey on the melancholic Indie Pop song 'For too long'. The trip through the little tales continues via the proggy Garage Rock song 'Killer' featuring guest vocalist Adrian Hartley, the atmospheric Dream Rock hymn 'One Mark' and the Pixiesque call for personal space 'Before Times'.
Once flipped to the B-Side, "The Eargoggle Regales" reveals its sunniest track 'Crocus', a Surf Rock-influenced Indie Pop beauty. The following 'Break your Bones' sung by Lucia Stavros is simultaneously the first LP's greatest song and its darkest one. This Noise Pop anthem is a guarantee for goosebumps. The minimalist bass-driven 'Tiny Island' brings the relief for the tension and marks the way for the lightfooted Post Punk slow jam 'Living for you'. Finally, the harmonic and gentle cinematic song 'Story Song' completes the first LP.
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| Picture Credit: Ezra Gale |
Second LP: The Eargoggle Revels
32:33
Warm and soothingly dynamic Disco Funk together with wanderlusty Dream Pop open the second LP as vocalist Mayteana Morales enchants the listeners with the stunning song 'Breathe (with the Earth and Stones)'. Up next, 'Smash' is coined by magnifcient guitar play on two multiple layers that moves eery cell of your body. This eclectic and experimental beat marks one of the absolute climaxes of the whole album and reminds of endless nocturnal celebrations. The hypnotizing Industrial track 'Darling, I' puts the listeners to a deep trance, before the Trip Hop and New Wave anthem 'Leave no Trace' featuring Emily Zuzik reactivates the audience's dancing feet.
The Funk is heavily strong with the party banger 'Soak' which then leads into the smooth and rather Soul-influenced by still funky tune 'The Bureau of Everything'. This organ-driven dystopia satirically takes on the issue of oppression via surveillance and features a catchy chorus fit for film scores. And as all good things have to end, The Eargoggles new double album has a final track, too. The narrating voice of Tom Gale hovers above a thrilling soundscape and lets us explore the darkness.
Seventeen tales, each of them unique and as fantastic, as weird, as real as life itself. Ezra Gale and his guests invite us on a multi-genre, multi-dimensional colourful journey. Music, content, and the illustrations of this fantastic release are entertainment enough to turn off your television for weeks. This is a wholesome masterpiece for all the senses.
The Eargoggle Online:
Bandcamp
SoundCloud
Spotify
Music from every post will be featured in the MangoRotation Playlist for 14 days.
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