GIRAFFES? GIRAFFES!

Giraffes? Giraffes! are a math rock duo whose members originally came from New England but later moved to California. Consisting of a guitarist and a drummer with no vocals. The guitarist sometimes uses looping effects so you hear more than one guitar at times. The drummer also plays some of the guitar parts and although the guitarist can also play drums, he does not on this album. This is the duo's second and most well known album. A short album but at least it's very consistent.

They can be stereotypical complex and fast math rock but also sometimes play chords and riffs. The music alternates between crazy math rock and more accessible indie rock. "When The Catholic Girls Go Camping, The Nicotine Vampires Rule Supreme" is the album opener you can listen to on PA. Complex math rock at its best. Some of the guitar playing here sometimes reminds me of some metal. About halfway goes into a simple riff along with some really rockin' guitar soloing. The title of the second track is both a reference to the Beatles' song "Come Together" and too long and weird to type in full...let's just call it "I Am S/H(im)e[r]..."

It is the highlight of the album and one of the best math rock songs I have ever heard. Although complex as hell, some of the guitar parts are memorable and stick in your head (at least mine anyway). Really great drumming in this track. They make room for some simpler riffs amongst all the madness. Before 3 minutes everything really mellows out with some simple and subdued guitar playing along with some kind of bells/xylophone (not exactly sure what it is). Halfway it picks up the pace again with more rockin' yet simple guitar lines. Later just cymbals and guitar noises as a spoken word part sampled from somewhere begins.

That spoken part is actually an interesting speech about dreams spoken in a way that sounds like it was recorded in the 1960s. After the speaker says the immortal line: "You would dream the dream of living the life you are actually living today," it goes back to the beginning part. Some of the tapping in "Emilie Sagée's Secret" sounds very bass-y although it's all done on guitar. Some clapping or similar noises in this track. Halfway it calms down a bit with some melodic strumming on guitar as the bells or whatever make an appearance. Some interesting guitar sounds in this song.

The title of "A Quick One While She's Away" is obviously a reference to the very similarly titled Who song. Another standout track. This is a very melodic song for math rock. At one point it sounds like acoustic guitar is being used; rare in math rock. I like the mix of crazy drumming and melodic guitar playing during that section. The music stops halfway before some noisy feedback-laden guitar takes over. The music builds up from this point and returns to earlier melodies and riffs. More Skin With Milk-Mouth would be a good introduction to math rock for those unfamilar with this type of music. I'll give this a 3.5 and round it up to 4 stars.

More Fun With Math-Rock

Giraffes?Giraffes!'s More Skin With Milk-Mouth is a uniquely crazed release. Here they successfully incorporate experimental layers to create a brilliant ying-yang relationship with the powerful math musicianship. The labyrinth of musical twist-and turns here really keep things interesting.

Joseph Andreoli's guitar work really appealed to me most on this album. He is a versatile player that has his technique fine-tuned, with tapping and shredding being most apparent. The drums do a fantastic job of filling up the otherwise porous sound, due to the band being a guitar/drums duo.

When The Catholic Girls Go Camping, The Nicotine Vampires Rule Supreme: Here is a fantastic exhibit of Joseph's canvas of guitar playing. The song begins with smooth tapping with indecisive drumming. The song takes a turn for more rock-oriented style, exploding into a wonderfully indulgent guitar solo that rides until the end with Kenneth crashing to add some weight behind the solo.

I Am S/h(im)e[r] As You Am S/h(im)e[r] As You Are Me: Being one of my all-time favorite math-rock songs, to me this is the pinnacle of the album. This time the drums step into the limelight. The fluidity and technicality is astounding plus the guitar licks and tapping really compose a kinetic intro. The energy dissipates into a length, airy bridge. The guitar continues to echo during the reintroduction of the strength of Giraffes?Giraffes!. The song ends with one of the most simple, yet powerful vocal samples tipped off with a heavy reprise.

The Ghost Of EPPEEPEE's Ghost : A vacuum of experimental tinkering and a deconstructed atmosphere. It's an interesting piece of work, but i feel that this should have been a theme in another song.

Emilie Sagée's Secret: Here the guys tamper with multiple heavy executions. Adhering to the entire drum set and creating multiple styles with the guitar. The only downfall to this track is it ends far too early. The abrupt ending makes me yearn for a further developed song. Though this doesn't make it a bad track!

A Quick One, While She's Away: A song sadly plagued by familiarity. The song came off to me as slightly recycled, but the quality of the band never dissolves or seems strained. It beings with more quick, precise drums over a restrained guitar, evolving into a sweet contrast-filled bridge. Some distortion enters with dense tom work to thicken things up. I admire this outro, as it summarizes the entire track well.

More Skin With Milk-Mouth is a excellent Math-Rock release and gets major points for creativity with the amusing theme changes and strength of musicianship. Though the release has it's flaws, it still accomplishes so much.

Prototypical Two-Man Math Rock

Giraffes? Giraffes! is a math rock duo with SUPERBASS!!! being their debut album. The album is fairly typical of the genre, so fans of Don Caballero, Russian Cirlces, and similar bands will find themselves quickly at home. Typically dextrous drumming and slightly distorted guitar patterns form the band's sound with a few extra bells and whistles here and there for accent. The recording is clear, without alot of extra processing or over correction, a "live in the studio" combination of good sound but organic feel.

I've listened to this album over and over as it works well on repeat and is relatively short. While it never really gets old, there are also no tracks that leap out and grab my attention. Every time I put it on I remember "Oh yeah, this stuff!" There's a playful energy and make the sound much more fun than alot of post-rock, but not a lot of danger either. It's not as manic and certainly not as scrubbed as Battles, and there are no vocals other than a few spoken interludes.

Of course the greatest irony on this album is that there is no bass. I don't miss it and the two musicians have no trouble at all filling up the space left over. Both are very good in this style, and neither lack soul in their playing. Overall, this is simply a very solid example of standard math rock. Easily recommended but non-essential.

This was the first thing I heard from this duo and it serves a great introduction to them. A free download on their Bandcamp page, this was recorded in a small club in Toronto and the sound quality is decent for such a setting. You hear all kinds of audience noise such as cursing and some appreciation for marijuana. The actual performance is stunning, as it's hard to imagine just two people making all this complex racket. There is some use made of samples, loops and different kinds of percussion. No vocals. The song titles are wonderfully absurd, or in other words great.

Generally the music is fast and complex but once in awhile it slows down to a either a riff or a laid-back post-rock vibe. "When The Catholic Girls Go Camping, The Nicotine Vampires Rule Supreme" has a nice alternative/indie riff for the last half. A great guitar solo as the other guitar parts are looped. "F**king Ants Man! Where Are They Coming From? (Let's Hang The Carroll Footnoteitsists)" changes quite a bit and is one of the better songs here. "I Am S/H(im)e(r) As You Am S/H(im)e(r) As You Are Me And We Am I And I Are All Our Together: Our Collective Consciousness' Psychogenic Fugue" has a really cool chamber section with what sounds like bells and violin-sounding guitar. This is followed by weird sounds and sampled talking.

"It's Easy-eeeee To Be Full Of S**t And Look Good In Black" has a nice bass-like part on guitar that is looped. Drummer goes into a straight forward 4/4 beat which is a good contrast to the math-y guitar playing. The title of "DRGNFKR" is missing some vowels. Very complex track. Lots of twists and turns here including some reggae-rock. Gets more sedate and calm in the middle before rockin' out in a slow groove. A good introduction to the music of Giraffes? Giraffes! 3 stars.

Pink Magick proves that GIRAFFES? GIRAFFES! are consistent with making loud, entertaining math rock. The album explores a wider range of territory than their previous album, More Skin With Milk Mouth, and besides the math rock, there are sections of standard prog, post rock, a section of heavy blast beats, and some erie experimentation. All these, the two band members Joe Andreoli and Ken Topham weave through effortlessly. The mood is just as optimistic as previous works, but there are a handful of dissonant parts that balance the album effectively. The technical skill is just as good as their previous album, if not better, but for some reason the album is less memorable than More Skin. The songs are noticeably shorter overall, so perhaps that's part of the problem . Any prog fan could pick up this album and enjoy it. I certainly have and am currently on my 3rd consecutive listen. Pink Magick is a solid math rock album from GIRAFFES? GIRAFFES! although it pales next to More Skin.

Rating: 7/10

GIRAFFES? GIRAFFES! released this album for free on their bandcamp page, something that as a fan of the band I surely appreciate.

Given the complexity of the music here, it is almost shocking to hear how well the band pulls it off. Other than a moment at the beginning of "When the Catholic Girls..." where the band was probably trying to "freak out" but ended up just sounding messy, they seem to be in complete control of these challenging instrumental tracks.

Of course the track names are as ridiculous as they have ever been for this band making it a challenge to speak about any particular track, but luckily for the most part on this live set each track is great. I am S/H(im)e[r].. has the great spoken word part too, which is nice.

These guy's music is angular, fast, tricky, and a little bit bizarre, but they manage to pull it off live, which is nice. It's amazing to remember that this is just a two piece band (guitars and drum) - they have a really big sound and I always feel there are at least 3-4 guys on stage. The sound quality is good enough that we can hear what the band is up to, but there is a certain amount of audience noise - including an audience member who is far too appreciative to finally see the band (yelling "F*** yeah" every chance he gets). This does drag down the quality of this set a bit which is unfortunate because what the band is doing is spot on pretty much all throughout.

For fans of the band, or those interested in math rock or just complex instrumental rock music, this is definitely a choice album and worth checking out.

GIRAFFES? GIRAFFES! (punctuation mandatory) is a very tight math rock duo with two releases so far. The first release is good, though the production could be better, but with their second album, GIRAFFES? GIRAFFES! show incredible potential. The album is lightning-fast, instrumental math rock that bristles with energy. The album manages to be constantly dynamic, but still stop for air. It's short length (not even 30 min) may seem to be a detractor, but the album accomplishes everything it should. It's an exciting, original math rock album that represents all of the genre's abilities, and will warrant multiple listens, even in the same day.

Rating: 9/10

More Skin With Milk Mouth is, IMO, one of the best math rock albums released. It takes all of the complex time signatures and tempo changes of the genre, along with two brilliant musicians, and a whole lot of funk, and creates sort of a new sub-sub-genre for math rock. This is Joseph Andreoli and Kenneth Topham's second studio album, and third album (including their first live album, Live on KZSC), so the band has some experience. Their sound is way more polished and tight than on its predecessor, Superbass!!!.

Milk-Mouth opens with Giraffes? Giraffes!' most famous song, When The Catholic Girls Go Camping, The Nicotine Vampires Rule Supreme, once again proving how completely math rock Giraffes? are. The song opens with an open tuning riff Joe plays with his Digitech Whammy and after a short break, Ken joins him in an ultimate bashathon on his tiny drum kit. They alter 9/8 and 7/8 like never before before going into a groovy chorus on a paradiddle between 8/8 and 7/8. After a few of these, they go into a 4/4 break, in which Joe records a loop of himself playing a chord sequence, and then plays a smashing guitar solo on top. What occurs then is that the most awesome math-rock song is created!

The song then moves onto the song with probably the longest title in music history, which I will just shorten up to Shimer. Shimer is again, as are all Giraffes?' songs, a time signature pandemonium, made groovy with Ken's complicated yet simple drum beats. Joseph is a mean machine tapping riffs on his guitar that no human can ever play. This reminds me of early Tera Melos and even a bit of Battles. After a few minutes of bashing away on their instruments, the song moves into a quiet section, and when you think it's all over, it's back, and even greater! Joe, again, records himself on his looper and then plays an insane solo over. The song then again moves into a very beautiful quiet section, reminiscent of Godspeed You! Black Emperor (which are on the other side of this PA subcategory), and then back into the first riff. Then an amazing speech is played, back to the start, and finish.

Ghost of EPEPEPEPOOPEOEP (something)'s Ghost is the weakest track on the album. Joe records a quiet melody on his looper and then bashes on his synth while Ken plays some garbage in the background. This is also reminscent of early Tera Melos, although the wackier side. The guitar has a bit of Explosions in the Sky in it, but not as beautiful. Although, the song is short, and is mainly an interlude, so it's not that bad.

When the final chord is played, Giraffes? segue into Emilie Sagee's Secret, the heaviest track on the album. Metallic clinks and clangs play as Ken and Joe bash their mathy paradise unto our ears. After two minutes of awesomeness, they segue into a quiet riffy party, also reminiscent of GY!BE, and also a bit of Mogwai. The darkness and mysteriousness of it somehow, barely, reminds me of Sigur Ros, although it is much heavier. As Joe, once more, samples himself, he takes out a glockenspiel (?!) and rocks out a sweet riff, just before the band head back into the main riff, and race out.

A Quick One While She's Away is in my opinion the most accesible song on the album, It is light, it is catchy, and it is somehow poppy. Despite being 9 minutes in length and using various complex time signatures, it is very lightweight and fun. It reminds me of This Town Needs Guns meets Explosions in the Sky. Very upbeat, very cheerful.

Overall, this album is one of the greatest math rock albums, ever, and so, I give it 5/5 stars.

I must admit that post/math rock is not a sub-genre I am terribly familiar with. My only other experience with it so far has been Monos Hymn to the Immortal Wind, which to my understanding sits much closer to the post side of the genre. This album is supposed to be closer to the math side of the genre, so in reality my basis for comparison for the music on this album is relatively low.

Giraffes? Giraffes! are a band that convinces me there is a Lot of value to be found in this sub-genre. From the very first moment of their ridiculously titled opening track (which let's us know that, technical wizardry aside, the band weren't taking themselves too seriously and we shouldn't either), Giraffes? Giraffes! assault the listener with up-tempo bursts of musical wonder. Guitar patterns that bring circles to mind roll overtopping of insane drum patterns.

The high energy stuff isn't all the band is capable of, however, and the next track (named as an homage to the Beatles) reveals that the band can take their layering and apply it to slower, spacey sections where the circular riffs are replaced by spacey keyboards and effects. This leads to the only vocal section in the track, a spoken section musing about dreams and reality that is quite fascinating, before the circular riffs come back with a vengeance.

The only down side to this album is that what they do in the first two tracks, they do throughout the whole album. Regardless, they never stop being excellent, and I must admit that the crazy drumming does quite a fair amount to keep the music lively. It never drops below excellent quality, and the album, being just five songs, seems to run the perfect length. Great music.

Giraffes? Giraffes! Is an unusual band that belong firmly in the math rock sub genre due to their high tech approach to rhythmic patterns and metrical shapes. The music is absolutely relentless from track to track with some diversions into ambience and space rock. Voice over narrations fade in and out and there is always a high degree of adventurous musical inspiration. The blasts of high speed trance rhythms are no more evident than on outstanding tracks such as 'I am Shimmer as we are Shimmer...' that shifts from a massive bass sound that would keep any metronome swinging wildly to a strange detour into a serene passage with voice over and ambient keys. Joseph and Kenneth are virtuoso but this will send some running as it is sporadic and demented jazz. A Multiple Progressive Disorder! It is difficult to describe as is any other track from these masters of techprog brilliance.

'When the Catholic Girls Go camping...' is another highlight featuring fret melting bass lines and scorching guitar solos and those pounding erratic drum patterns are ever present. There is guitar tapping blended with off kilter drumming and metrical shapes unlike any I have encountered.

This is a huge sound that the band are creating and as diverse as anything on the prog shelf. Try for yourself. I was pleasantly surprised at the adventurous approach to music Giraffes? Giraffes! adopts. ****