Ganser

“What a time to be alive.” ESP. Dyslexia. Moments of gesture. Should I? And Why? Morse Code. Body language. Dropped calls.

Mumbled, spit out, Ganser explores communication breakdown on their debut LP, Odd Talk. Seeking meaning in mess, they sort through syllables and signals to find the right words. When’s the last time you called your mother?

“Sometimes there isn’t the right thing to say, throwing language in a blender is the only option,” says bassist and vocalist Alicia Gaines. “Looking through randomness like tea leaves, you find meaning in it eventually and work with that.”

Having approached sadness’ absurd edges with their last EP, 2016’s This Feels Like Living, the Chicago foursome dive into where words fail. Ganser wraps themselves around the album, from artwork to music video conception and direction.

“There’s this point where the feelings you’ve let fester below the surface start to grow legs and gain autonomy,” says keyboardist and vocalist Nadia Garofalo. Throughout Odd Talk, Ganser’s amorphous sound takes on the form of their comedically grim, absurdist subject matter. On “PSY OPS,” Charlie Landsman’s chaotic, crunchy guitar matches the frenetic nature of the words, Brian Cundiff’s drums play off the tension between danceable No Wave and Post-Punk’s determined focus.

Exercising both introverted melody and extroverted noise, the band finds meaning through echolalic shouts and murmurs.