Giraffes? Giraffes!
| Giraffes? Giraffes! | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Massachusetts, New England, United States |
| Genres | Math rock, progressive rock, post-rock, experimental rock |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Labels | independent |
| Website | Official website |
| Members |
Ken Topham Joseph Andreoli |
Giraffes? Giraffes! (often abbreviated as G? G!) are an instrumental math rock band formed in 2001 in Massachusetts by guitarist/drummer Kenneth Topham and guitarist Joseph Andreoli. Along with math rock, the band's music frequently touches on post-rock, progressive rock and experimental rock.
History
Ken Topham and Joseph Andreoli both grew up in Massachusetts and met at Keene State college. The pair moved to California for four years, before eventually returning to Massachusetts and forming Giraffes? Giraffes!. The moves exposed the duo to several "musical communities," which Andreoli described as "totally weird to join," and then the band would "leave them and start again somewhere else."[1]
During their stay in California, Topham and Andreoli performed in several different groups, before performing "this stripped down guitar and drums thing for fun" under the name Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, taking the name from a Dave Eggers book. A year later, Giraffes? Giraffes! would also take their name from an Eggers book.[2] The titles for their songs, on the other hand, are chosen after each track is complete and is based on the tone of the finished song and the evolution of the ideas (used and unused) throughout the creative writing and arranging process.[3]
The group's first album SUPERBASS!!!! (Black Death Greatest Hits Vol. 1) (2005) was recorded in a warehouse in Massachusetts and was recorded mostly live, as with the rest of the band's output. "We try to record as much as possible live with minimal overdubs," says Topham. "But for the sake of time and frustration, we do some overdubs." Andreoli added "especially with looping. In a recording situation where you’re working with loops one little fuck up a loop 8 minutes in on a ten minute piece it’s just devastating," concluding that the band tries to only record material that they can play live.[2]
In 2007, G? G! released their second studio album, More Skin With Milk-Mouth recorded in Topham's apartment in Santa Cruz.[2] And following on from that with Pink Magick in 2011 and the 2013 split EP 10" with Goddard. The band's most recent release is Spazz Master 7", released in February 2015.
The band is very open to the use of their music in other media, publicly responding to one fan's request by stating: "Use whatever you want. Sounds cool! If it’s ever on the Internet, send us a link to check it out."[4]
Discography
SUPERBASS!!!! (Black Death Greatest Hits Vol. 1)
Giraffes? Giraffes! released their first album on December 9, 2005. The album was recorded and mixed by Topham and Christopher "Chet!" Snow.
| SUPERBASS!!!! (Black Death Greatest Hits Vol. 1) | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "Fucking Ants Man! Where They Coming From? (Let's Hang The Carroll Footnoteitsists)" | 4:08 |
| 2. | "Ko-ink-e-dink? I Think Not!" | 5:10 |
| 3. | "...And Then She Look'd Down And Saw Miniature Houses And Miniature People And Inside The Miniature People Were Miniature Hearts Pumping Blood Through Miniature Veins (Her Mouth Was Watery And Wet)" | 7:06 |
| 4. | "It's Easy-eeeee To Be Full Of Shit And Look Good In Black" | 5:34 |
| 5. | "TOMHANKS'S'ES(EM)ANTICS'ES'S" | 3:34 |
| 6. | "I Dreamdpt I Had A Little Death But I Camed For The Big Sleep" | 4:03 |
| 7. | "She Looked Up From Examining The Freckles On Her Arm And Shouted, 'Jesus! I'm Fucking God-Damn Tired Of All This Make-Up Sex!' And He Just Stared Off" | 4:19 |
More Skin With Milk-Mouth
Giraffes? Giraffes! released their second album on December 8, 2007. The album was recorded at Beef Studio by Topham and David Provost, mixed by Topham, and mastered by Dan Rathbun.
| More Skin With Milk-Mouth | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "When The Catholic Girls Go Camping, The Nicotine Vampires Rule Supreme." | 3:52 |
| 2. | "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" | 9:39 |
| 3. | "The Ghost Of EPPEEPEE's Ghost" | 1:58 |
| 4. | "Emilie Sagée's Secret" | 3:33 |
| 5. | "A Quick One, While She's Away" | 9:21 |
Live In Toronto
Giraffes? Giraffes! released their first live album on August 30, 2010. The album was recorded live on August 15, 2010, by Cameron Harding at Rancho Relaxo in Toronto, Canada. It features songs from their first two albums, as well as songs from their yet to be released third album.
| Live In Toronto | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "Intro" | 0:35 |
| 2. | "When The Catholic Girls Go Camping, The Nicotine Vampires Rule Supreme." | 4:27 |
| 3. | "Fucking Ants Man! Where They Coming From? (Let's Hang The Carroll Footnoteitsists)" | 5:06 |
| 4. | "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" | 12:12 |
| 5. | "Werewolf Grandma With Knives" | 4:26 |
| 6. | "Scorpion Bowls At The Hong Kong" | 8:33 |
| 7. | "It's Easy-eeeee To Be Full Of Shit And Look Good In Black" | 8:32 |
| 8. | "DRGNFKR" | 9:29 |
Pink Magick
Giraffes? Giraffes! released their third album on September 21, 2011. The album was recorded and mixed at Beef Studio by Topham and mastered by Harris Newman.
| Pink Magick | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "Es And Em And Em And Ems" | 0:59 |
| 2. | "Scorpion Bowls At The Hong Kong" | 5:48 |
| 3. | "Totally Boneless!!!" | 2:34 |
| 4. | "Werewolf Grandma With Knives (Part One: The Changeling)" | 2:24 |
| 5. | "Werewolf Grandma With Knives (Part Two: Don't Die)" | 3:45 |
| 6. | "Koscinski's Requiem For A Golden Chariot" | 4:24 |
| 7. | "Curse Of The Tooth Nightmare" | 4:49 |
| 8. | "Transparent Man/Invisible Woman (80,000,000 Years Alone)" | 3:18 |
| 9. | "DRGNFKR" | 7:29 |
10"
Giraffes? Giraffes! released a split 10" EP with Goddard on April 30, 2013. The first track was recorded by Giraffes? Giraffes! at Boiler Room Recordings in Worcester, MA. The second and third tracks were recorded by Goddard at Electrical Audio in Chicago, IL.
| 10" | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "In The Middle Of The Night Someone Tore Off The Ceiling And Sucked Me Into The Sky / Before My Eyes Began To Boil I Saw Billions Of Tiny Webs Connecting Everything" | 10:02 |
| 2. | "Midwest 95" | 5:01 |
| 3. | "Thrushes" | 5:24 |
Spazz Master 7"
Giraffes? Giraffes! released a 7" EP on February 3, 2015. The EP was recorded and mixed by Jason Karby at Boiler Room Recordings, and mastered by Chris Goosman at Baseline Audio Labs.
| Spazz Master 7" | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "SugaaaaaSpazzazazz" | 4:03 |
| 2. | "Swallowing Light And Sweating Diamonds (Masters Of The Fucking Universe)" | 4:27 |
Members
- Ken Topham - drums, percussion, glockenspiel, bells, pots and pans, minimal vocals[5]
- Joseph Andreoli - guitar, loops, effects, minimal vocals[5]
References
- ↑ "INTERVIEW: GIRAFFES? GIRAFFES!" (Interview). Robot Messiah Blog. December 2, 2010. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
- 1 2 3 "Interview with Giraffes? Giraffes!" (Interview). Ithica Underground. August 17, 2010. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
- ↑ "GIRAFFES?GIRAFFES! - Do you come up with song names by getting high? :D Love them, they're sick song names!" (Interview). Giraffes? Giraffes! official website. December 29, 2013. Retrieved Jan 30, 2014.
- ↑ "GIRAFFES?GIRAFFES! - Hey Guys! Huge huge huge huge huge fans. So much so your music has inspired a film Im doing. Im wondering if I could use "I Am S/H(im)e[r] As You Am S/H(im)e[r] As..." or "Emily Sagée's secret" for the film. The short film is about two scientist that build a machine that allows them to watch dreams in real time. And they use the machine to perform impossible physics experiments in their dreams. Let me know! Keep up the music!" (Interview). Giraffes? Giraffes! official website. September 20, 2013. Retrieved Jan 30, 2014.
- 1 2 "SUPERBASS!!!! (BLACK DEATH GREATEST HITS VOL. 1)" (Review). Prog Archives. Retrieved May 22, 2013.