"Since 2017, They Are Gutting a Body of Water have evolved from Doug Dulgarian's shoegazey, slowcore-influenced solo project into a dense, maximalist quartet that can best be described as the soundtrack to a hypothetical Mario Kart Level of Hell. The band's fusion of drum 'n' bass and breakcore with harsh, dense layers of guitar and bass is often accompanied by rounded, N64-inspired tones, creating a world both playful and sinister in its embrace of the synthetic."
"On Lotto, TAGABOW's fourth studio album, the band pulls the plug on hyperreality and abandons electronic elements in favor of a more straightforward, live approach: finally letting the screens go black, pulling the blinds up. It's their rawest album yet, both in subject matter and in sound. Though Dulgarian has previously delved into themes of numbness and isolation, the lyrics have tended to be evasive, allowing his terse, imagistic motifs to slip quietly beneath the crashing riffs."
"The album opens with "the chase," a first-person account of suffering through fentanyl withdrawal. "Boosting Gillettes in a hopeful exchange for a sharp but tranqless synthetic isolate," he mutters, "a substance that'll make me sob pathetic to my girlfriend up high in miracle's castle." Even when the lyrics are fuzzier and sparser, Dulgarian's voice comes through clearer than ever. On "rl stine," dedicated to an unhoused friend,"
They Are Gutting a Body of Water transformed from Doug Dulgarian's shoegaze and slowcore solo into a maximalist quartet blending drum 'n' bass, breakcore, and heavy guitar textures with playful N64-inspired tones. Live shows emphasize tight, inward-facing formations. On Lotto, the band removes electronic elements and adopts a direct live approach, yielding a rawer sound and more explicit subject matter. Lyrics move from evasive imagery to urgent clarity, portraying fentanyl withdrawal and scenes of homelessness while balancing brutal honesty with a hopeful, grounded pursuit of resilience.
Read at Pitchfork
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