Gustaf, the Brooklyn no wave / post-punk band helmed by Lydia Gammill, has announced their new album for April 5 via Royal Mountain Records. Their first album since 2021’s Audio Drag for Ego Slobs, Package Pt. 2 continues the endlessly fascinating world-building exercise of its forbearer. Produced by Erin Tonkon, who worked on David Bowie’s Blackstar, the album was recorded at Studio G Brooklyn and Circular Ruin. Today watch the video for ‘Starting and Staring’ a three minute sprint propelled by a driving baseline and frenetic vocals.
Directed by Alex Ross Perry (Bully, Soccer Mommy, Pavement, etc.), the video finds the band playing a house show as Gammill intensely directs everyone to “stay on my eyes”. Something is pulling her attention from the back of the crowd as the band’s facial cues become more and more intense.
Where Audio Drag for Ego Slobs confronted the struggle to deal with the narrators’ surroundings, finding ways to behave in a way where their emotions and actions didn’t alienate most everyone, Package Pt. 2 becomes self-aware, wondering what they might change to make life, relationships, and love a little more manageable presented via a dizzying post-punk dream brought with an irrepressible energy with astounding vocal performances throughout. With Package Pt. 2, Gustaf is in full command of a lineage that radiates from obvious touchstones like the B-52s and Talking Heads to DNA and Teenage Jesus and the Jerks.
Package Pt. 2:
- Statue
- Close
- What Does It Mean
- Starting And Staring
- I Won
- Weighing Me Down
- Here Hair
- Hard Hair
- Produce
- Happiest Thought
- Ground
- End Of The Year
