Famously Alive

Chronique

Guerilla Toss have always made dense, energetic, colorful music that's felt like it's bursting at the seams, but their first Sub Pop full-length comes with a renewed sense of purpose. In 2017, frontperson Kassie Carlson underwent open-heart surgery to remove a blood clot caused by an addiction to opiates. The group's 2019 EP What Would the Odd Do? was inspired by her recovery and sobriety, but Famously Alive is more overtly focused on self-acceptance and celebrating life. The album was written during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, and being at home all the time forced Carlson to manage her anxiety and become comfortable in her own skin. By the sound of this album, she must feel better than ever, as this is their sunniest, most cheerful music. Shifting from the funky, no wave-influenced dance-punk of their previous work, this record more openly embraces pop influences, covering vocal hooks in Auto-Tune and occasionally hinting at a fondness for emo and pop-punk. Sonically, the group still paint panoramic rainbows, stretching out distorted guitars and shimmering keyboards with a dizzying array of effects. The album's first track, "Cannibal Capital," begins with a busy sound collage that sounds like an imitation of a between-song bumper on a commercial rock station, and shocks of distortion occasionally punctuate the song's relatively stripped-down groove, as Carlson's restrained vocals address her mental health battles. She sounds far more extroverted on the rest of the album, with the title track coming closer to an Andrew W.K.-style life encouragement anthem, and others like "Live Exponential" and "I Got Spirit" offering similar exclamations, while taking entirely different rhythmic approaches. It's hard to fault Guerilla Toss' unabashedly positive attitude, particularly taking into account everything Carlson has been through, but Famously Alive is the type of record where the production is often more interesting than the songs themselves. The energy and inspiration are there, but as the band attempt to write more accessible material, some of the uniqueness of their past work is compromised. Still, you can't say that the album is predictable, and even if not every song hits, the band's exuberance is undeniable.

© Paul Simpson /TiVo