Gilla Band's "Pugnello" Reviewed: Furious Originality Fuelled by Cathartic Aggression

Irish band Gilla Band have released their fourth album, "Pugnello," a 42-minute set described in a review as a work of furious originality fuelled by cathartic aggression and absurdist confessions.

The Dublin quartet has attracted significant attention ahead of the album's release, with a Pitchfork feature describing them as Ireland's most influential band since My Bloody Valentine, a comparison echoed by several of their musical peers.

An unconventional opening

According to the review, the album opens with a deceptively familiar sound, a distorted power chord, before taking an unexpected turn: the chord does not fade, instead sustaining for roughly two and a half minutes on a track called "The Angelus," layered with rapid rhythmic bursts.

The review describes the track's drone as eventually giving way to a series of forceful bass explosions overlaid with a sound compared to both guitar feedback and a dial-up modem, underscoring the album's deliberately disorienting sonic character.

The album has been released on Rough Trade, and reflects the band's continued reputation for pushing the boundaries of guitar-based noise music, according to the review's assessment of the record.