Gang Gang Dance - 'Saint Dymphna' (Warp) Released 20/10/08

For nearly a decade (and three albums and a few EPs), Gang Gang Dance have resembled their fellow (since relocated) Brooklynites Animal Collective before they learned how to focus their exhausting onslaught of ideas. Only in Animal Collective’s case, the early LPs’ ear-shattering noise excursions and total reluctance to stick with one movement, melody or beat for more than a nanosecond was seemingly there to draw the attention away from the sweet melodies they were always capable of crafting, but often seemed almost embarrassed by. With Gang Gang Dance, the suspicion’s been there’s very little of substance going on beyond the wild, ramshackle cavalcade of rickety grooves and feverish yelping. Strip the often ecstatic proceedings to their foundations, and you’re left with next to nothing.

Until now, that is. Named after the patron saint of outsiders, ‘Saint Dymphna’ proves Gang Gang Dance – downsized to a trio since last year’s sprawling ‘Rawwar’ EP – can cut back on the chaos without letting go of their roots in improvisational, anything goes spontaneity. Ironically, considering the platter’s named after the protector of creatures who feel right at home in the outer margins, this surefooted, striking summit of bold experimentation, crafty editing and hitherto undetected pop chops could – and should – propel GGD several steps towards the mainstream from the hipsters’ own domain they’ve so far been stranded in.

Global beats, from West African jangle to cutting-edge electro frost and gritty urban menace of grime, are very much in the driver’s seat here. Which is hardly the freshest of tricks, but at least GGD’s interest in obscure riddims predates the current Brooklyn-based trend for traipsing the ‘world music’ section for inspiration by several years, leading to the kind of cheeky confidence in mixing and matching ingredients their ‘Graceland’-referencing compatriots can barely dream of. For example, check out ‘First Communion’, which combines dancehall bounce, new wave yelping and sparkly highlife guitars to spellbinding effect, whilst the startlingly pretty ‘House Jam’ could be Kate Bush-ian wonk pop subjected to the disorientating effects of a futuristic dub echo chamber. London grime MC Tinchy Stryder adds a welcome drop of streetwise swagger to ‘Princess’. If Stryder occasionally seems a bit lost amidst Gang Gang Dance’s dreamy grooves, he’s not the only one. The union between the band and the MC’s very much a trek to previously uncharted territory, and a welcome reminder that a long haul flight to far away regions isn’t always required to locate fresh, as-of-yet untapped sounds.

Elsewhere, most notably the awe-inspiring ambient glide of ‘Blue Nile’, the closest comparison to what’s on offer here is Panda Bear’s ‘Person Pitch’. Although ‘Saint Dymphna’ can’t quite match the underwater choral-pop epics of that masterpiece – the pace drops a bit towards the end, and it’s hard to shake off the feeling Gang Gang Dance haven’t yet fully located their heart, the two share a crucial common component: a refreshing disregard for where the styles that help mould these sounds originate from. Leaving compulsive bracket-eering and respectful pastiche for others, it’s all simply music for Gang Gang Dance, and as such fit for becoming another building block in a truly genre-defying construct of genuine global village grooves.