Published by New Jersey Stage
originally published: 09/30/2024
Photo by Ebru Yildiz
Brooklyn alternative rock outfit The Giraffes has released their eighth album 'Cigarette' - a hypnotic, psychedelic ethnic-tinged rock score for our current age of decay and disappointment, fear and fury, idiocy and hope. This long-awaited and loaded 7-track offering is full of surprises, taking new risks with subject matter and composition while maintaining the intensity and dexterity fans know and love.
Recorded & engineered by Andrew Totolos at Apesauce Studio, this was mixed by Grammy nominated producer Francisco Botero (Matisyahu, Odesza) at the iconic Studio G Brooklyn and by James Dellatacoma (Bill Laswell, Herbie Hancock, TS Monk, John Zorn, Angelique Kidjo) at Bill Laswell's famed Orange Music Sound Studio.
The band recently released the single 'Pipes', a furious, psychedelic protest anthem born from the fear of widespread environmental neglect, and the hypnotic lead track 'The Shot', a rock-meets-psychedelic-surf earworm that shimmers between shadowy depths and sunlit crescendos.
Since forming in 1996, they've been crafting a hedonistic soundtrack that is loud, agile, dangerous, funny, sick, complex and satisfying. Known for their trademark menu of metal-tinged scuzz-rock, The Giraffes offer a tasteful mixture of heavy rock, punk, post-punk, surf and whatever else they find interesting.
With lead singer Aaron Lazar and guitar maestro Damien Paris as its core, drummer Andrew Totolos provides the locomotive rhythm section with Hannah Moorhead anchoring the bass. This year marks the beginning of a new era for the band, with Moorhead now also contributing backing vocals and songwriting. With the line-up no longer in flux, the focus is now largely on songwriting.
"Cigarette is a name that just popped into my mind out of the blue. We tried several titles but this word “cigarette” just seemed to suit the record best. Those now rare and expensive and terrible treats that both kill and sustain you. Anachronistic and awkward, beautiful and trashy, plant, paper, fire and whatever else that happened to linger in the philip morris production line," says Aaron Lazar.
"This collection of songs comes from a cinematic place. We started off attempting to make a record that was spiritually similar to our spaghetti western soundtrack “A Gentleman Never Tells” and with a few detours i think we have arrived there. A score for our current age of decay and disappointment, fear and fury, idiocy and hope."
Four years since forming and two years since debuting with their 1998 album 'Franksquilt', The Giraffes finally found their true form in 2000 when joined by vocalist Aaron Lazar. Upon releasing 'Helping You Help Yourself', their first album with Lazar in 2002, the band would stake its claim as the most unbridled and fun-loving Brooklyn live act. Indeed, with fierce musicality and peak audience participation, The Giraffes earned themselves a dedicated fan base.
From 2002, the band toured nationally and released four studio albums in succession, signing with various labels along the way. Their spaghetti western EP 'A Gentleman Never Tells' (2003) was followed by 'The Giraffes' album (2005), the 'Pretty In Puke' EP and the 'Prime Motivator' album (2008). Their epic 2010 concept album 'Ruled' proved to be Lazar's swan song before leaving the band in 2011. While his departure seemed to mark the end of an era, the embers of their explosive sound would later reignite, proving that this was not the band's final act.
2014 brought sold-out reunion concerts with Lazar back at the helm, reuniting fans from far and wide. Bolstered by their support, the Giraffes began developing new material, resulting in their sixth album 'Usury', released to critical acclaim in 2015. Finally, 2019 brought a new lineup with the addition of bassist Hannah Moorhead (Netherlands, Twenty Two’s) and new impetus with the release of the 'Flower of the Cosmos' album and remixes by Swervedriver's Adam Franklin and notable hip-hop record producer Blockhead.
Over the years, The Giraffes have toured with Eagles of Death Metal, Local-H, The Vacation and Skeleton Key, and shared the stage with Interpol, Fishbone, Yeah Yeah Yeah's and The Strokes. They've played SXSW, Bonnaroo, Amsterjam, Voodofest, Monolith, Northside and CMJ Festivals, and landed sync licensing placements in the 'Guitar Hero' video game, Sundance Festival winning film 'I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore', and the forthcoming 'Toxic Avenger' remake.
The 'Cigarette' album is available everywhere, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp.
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