The Gunga Din
Your Glitter Never Dulls
Jetset
Brought up alongside the Bad Seeds in way too many write-ups to ignore the connection, the Gunga Din is dark and stylish and cigarette-stained. The sultry vocals make me ache, it’s true, but there’s just too much beauty for it to really hurt. Think the Girl from Ipanema hanging out with Jonathan Fire Eater. The music takes me away though. Oceans of rolling toms, waves of red velvet lounge organ slivering notes into the dream. When they crash into the climax of certain songs, you hear the epic quality of the music. Moving from sparse swampy tribal patterns to lush and thick choruses, the guitar pulls out some Birthday Party sounds, but in the mix it comes across as being a bit more dive bar sleazy. Stylish sleazy, though. In the end, it doesn’t matter. Maria Zastrow shines, dancing snakelike and seductive over the organ, the guitar winds around my throat as the bass holds my arms back, and the drums take the place of my pulse. Siobhan’s vocals float from heaven to hell and back again, carrying me away on waves of that low down Southern lounge. Whiskey soaked cabaret shadows dancing like light, searching the shadows.
Jetset, 67 Vestry St., Suite 5C, New York, NY 10013, http://jetset.sinner.com
