New Gimgigam: The Trip

You ever enjoying yourself, say on an excursion out of the house or on a small vacation, only to have the sudden reminder “oh hey, civilization is ultimately doomed” cross your mind? The most striking individual moment on Gimgigam’s The Trip manages just this feeling, and the warmer-clime funk-pop proceeding makes the realization all the more stinging. Like most acts under the Local Visions umbrella, Gimgigam reinterprets city pop for modern times, and The Trip brings to mind something between fusion longplayers and those albums that like JAL would put together to help people experience far-flung destinations. Opener “Matinee” works in sax blurts and easy-going guitar playing to create a relaxed atmosphere made all the more rich by bird samples (a touch popping up throughout and lending this one a travelogue vibe), while “Botanical Garden” is pure resort get-down. Guests appear on the bulk of the tracks here and turn them into pop delights itching to jump on your summer playlists. See the sweltering shuffle of “Orange” which finds Yoko. T using “coined words” to create a delirious afternoon bounce, or the steady rumble of “Horizon,” which features lovely English lyrics from Takara Araki (complete with a little unease via references to losing “status and money”). All in all a good time and a lovely escape…well, unless you are wired like me, and reach the boogie pop of “Dancin'” only to hear a vocal sample about how “the human race will be erased” if we don’t change are ways. Hmmm, give me a little bit more time in the sun first. Get it here, or listen below.