Some quotes from a review of Chinatown in DOA:
“macro-musicality…an intriguing album…not an experimental album…songs both familiar and fugitive… large in scope… songs materialize like a forgotten word on the tip of your tongue… deep eclecticism… spaced out but very rooted… folks with eclectic tastes would do well to investigate.”
Northeast Performer - June, 2007
“According to The Gulf’s press materials, the band recorded its full-length debut in a run-down schoolhouse in Boston’s Chinatown district, changing the locks on a former storage room and converting it to a makeshift studio. Listening to the music on Chinatown, the offspring of this nine-month squatting experiment, one can almost picture the six talented band members making the most of the unlimited recording time in their clandestine studio, bouncing ideas off one another and exploring every musical whim.
Band co-founders Adam Garland and Adam Brock have lived in various parts of the country over the years, and they’ve obviously soaked up the local culture during their stays. Channeling tones from the West Texas desert to the Spanish countryside, with stops at Bourbon Street and even Coney Island along the way, The Gulf create soundscapes as vast as their name implies.
Take “Codeine,” for instance: a Morricone-style trumpet solo drifts into druggy verses, painted with a spacey slide guitar and a jazzy beat, followed by a sloppy barroom sing-along chorus. A few minutes later, a trippy break with the lyrics, “Like a kid in a playpen / No conversations / But I’ve made so many friends,” is dramatically underscored with a full-band barrage of carnival music.
Many songs follow a similar structure, subtly shifting direction mid-song, incorporating extensive instrumental breaks, and building up plenty of tension and release. As dizzy as the trip sounds, the impressive songwriting keeps things grounded and firmly on track, even though many tunes play out like five-minute song-suites with multiple movements.
Stealing the spotlight are the more traditional instruments - mainly Brian McGrath’s trumpet, Adam Brock’s piano, and Dave Barbaree’s slide guitar. Perhaps it’s the use of these instruments, or perhaps the complex, yet seamless song arrangements mentioned above - regardless, there’s an inherent sophistication in The Gulf’s songs that gives them a timeless quality rarely found in today’s hipster elite. This element makes the music a hell of a lot more listener-friendly than one would expect given its eclectic genes.
If your Calexico CDs and Meddle-era Floyd vinyl are getting stale, then try an interesting combination of the two with Chinatown. (Ultracold Records)”
-Brett Cromwell, Northeast Performer Magazine, June 2007
In a live review of their March show in Cambridge, MA, Northeast Performer Magazine called The Gulf “one of the most original acts on the current Boston scene.” Here’s the full review…
Northeast Performer, June 2006.
Live Review by Brett Cromwell
“Filling most of the club’s live performance area, The Gulf was clearly the most anticipated band of the evening. In contrast to the earlier performers, the band displayed a unique ability to marry elements from a variety of genres into a well-executed stew that was completely their own. Long, complex songs brought to mind everything from the desert soundtrack music of Calexico to a heavier, more powerful sound recalling Explosions in the Sky. Keyboardist Adam Brock and guitarist Adam Garland traded vocals while slide guitarist Dave Barbaree and trumpet player Brian McGrath added traces of Nashville and Barcelona to the palette. The band announced that the night would be bassist Sven Larson’s final show. One can only hope his departure will have a minimal effect on his colleagues, as The Gulf is one of the most original acts on the current Boston scene.”
Dagger Zine (Portland, Oregon) reviewed The Gulf’s debut album “Chinatown” in their March 2007 issue:
“Beantown bunch who definitely are not playing the clubs over in Roxbury or Southie. The two leaders Adam Brock and Adam Garland are both quite talented and this spacey/trippy pop will appeal to fans of both Pink Floyd and The Flaming Lips.”
Miriam Lamey did a spotlight on The Gulf in the March 2007 issue of Northeast Performer:
“The Gulf boasts a mysterious history that involves a lot of “random” events,” “a whole bunch of different drummers,” and “a lot of [different] people in every position in the band.” However, the current band members are responsible for the most natural, productive lineup yet, as well as the brilliance behind Chinatown…a dazzling collection of songs that channels elements of Leonard Cohen, early Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, Built to Spill, Bright Eyes and rootsy jazz. Each sonic element feels clean and tight, but not overly polished. Rather, all different instruments, including trumpets, piano, harmonica, and strings, come together seamlessly…The Gulf beautifully balances each instrument in their compositions. Equipped with a larger-than-life outlook and a keen ability to produce insightful, intelligent music, The Gulf may soon be everywhere all at once.”
Thursday, February 8, 2007
“The Gulf is a Boston band that sent me their CD, “Chinatown” (Ultracold), at least a month ago and I finally got a grip and listened to it. I started with Track 9, “Note to Garland,” because I liked the name. Turns out it was a fine choice. I was lulled into acoustic lala land, against the backdrop of mellow percussion. Dreamy male vocals, courtesy of Adam Brock [sic] who is cousin of Modest Mouser Isaac Brock, are the centerpiece of the song, but then I started to hear horns and piano. “You’ll ease into conversation, without an eighth of hesitation … just because,” sings Brock. Then I went back to the opening song, “Waking,” which was equally enchanting, as was the next one, “The Princess from Rome.” “Don’t be waiting for me, in those pink leather boots. You know it’s been real but you haven’t got a clue,” spills Brock just before a punch of drums gets the point across. I’m having a total “I think this is my new favorite band” moment. The cover of “Chinatown” is a picture of a shop window with chickens hanging in it, and if you look closely a guitar can also be seen. It’s a goofy shot that doesn’t reflect what their music is all about, but all album covers have a certain level of arbitrary artiness to them, so I’ll cut them some slack. Plus, you GOTTA love that their record label is called Ultracold. The local meteorologists may want to adopt this and simply say in the forecast, “Well people, it’s gonna be ultracold. Good luck.”
note: dreamy male vocals in “Note to Garland” are by Adam Garland, not Adam Brock as written in the article. To avoid this confusion in the future, Adam Brock will have his name legally changed to an exclamation mark !
“Filled with ambient emotion and brilliant subtlety, The Gulf’s piano-fueled jazz/pop on their opening track “Waking” is a refreshing change from your average rock and roll din. This song is strictly thinking man’s music filled with rich nuance and stark imagery. If this tune doesn’t hit the Top 40, the powers that be aren’t doing their jobs!
Slide guitar dominates the texture on “The Missionary” as its easy groove lulls you into a euphoric sense of well-being. The bizarre lullaby of “God’s Machine Gun” turns into a frenetic wake-up call on God’s little mortals…time. “Time is God’s machine gun.” Elegantly put.
Piano riffs pop back into the melody on “Get the Feeling” while the vocals get crowded and hurried. This is a wacky and wild little number. Then, the ethereal, organ-fueled “Sensation Z”, reminiscent of Ray Manzurek and The Doors in their heyday, ignites the aural sky in all its glorious pageantry. While the laid-back, harmonica-dotted “Nothing but Neon” illustrates a magical walk down any street through the night, you realize just how originally gifted The Gulf are. The acoustic finger picking of “Tell Me it’s Alright” not only validates their songwriting savvy, but their musical talents as well.
Boasting an album of extraordinary measure, The Gulf have secured their spot in the Boston music scene with Mind in a Helmet.”
Douglas Sloan
Metronome Magazine
Insite Magazine did a spotlight on The Gulf in their 6/2006 issue. They wrote:
“This is a strong, fully-realized effort from a polished, ambitious group…Their eclecticism and ambitious approach to exploring the surreal outer-limits of the rock format recalls Pink Floyd, but where Floyd championed “space-rock,” The Gulf is very much of this earth.”
The music of “Mind in a Helmet” is the soundtrack of a passing landscape. They are myopic memories lacking a context paired with rich, dreamy compositions that let you form your own. The Gulf is great at transforming the mundane, the twisted, and the detritus of failed cities and enterprise and transforming the mess into great songs. Like many of my favorite songwriters and bands, they aspire to make gold out of shit. They accomplish the task a few times on their debut EP.
I’ll focus on a couple of my favorites on the EP. In “Nothing but Neon”, Brock takes us on a trip through down-and-out-nowherville. It’s easy to sympathize with the song’s wistfulness for the imagined better circumstances further down the road. The tale is set to a gorgeous Americana waltz, complete with lap steel and harmonica. The Gulf knows how we feel. We want to be heading down Route 66 with the wind in our hair, roadside attractions and atrocities whizzing by, topped off with a seedy motel and a six pack of beer at the end of the day. This song beautifully conveys the slow death of a soul settled into a place that has nothing left to reveal. The crush of the city squeezes us all out on the road from time to time. This song is going to be on the mix tape for my next trip.
The oblique odyssey of “God’s Machine Gun” takes you through a city full of this type of imagery. I can’t help but recall the movie Trainspotting as the song careens through an absurd, dream-like tale of a frantic attempt to leave the boredom behind. I love this song because it goes nowhere and it’s an incredibly fun ride. The Gulf does a great job of isolating you, one-on-one with their music. This song constantly commands your attention. Opening with a glee club chorus devoted to the words “Staring at the ceiling/Watch the fanblades turning”, the song quickly cuts to clever keyboard hooks and thread-tearing bass lines guiding you through the twists and turns of what amounts to an absurd, richly detailed extended jog around the neighborhood.
Having experienced the band live and seen a much broader range of their material, it seems to me that their debut album is going to build on the best of Mind in a Helmet. So, if like your rock with groove, popping bass lines, lilting piano, rich Americana rhythms and backdrops, and a world-weary crooner all washed in dreamy psychedelic guitars, you have heard no band better in New England.
–Ben Crouch
