"in the visible vies / indeterminate ties / independent for why / dismissively wise / details move so slow..."
The spiralling art punk carnage of "Monk" by The Dialtones, headed by prolific Austin / Los Angeles songwriter / guitarist Lauren Gurgiolo, feels like brand new sonic territory, a maze of experimental mirrors to get lost in. The progressive nature, wonderfully precise while feeling totally ID, is smile inducing. The jammy, angular thrusting guitar jams, heavy (even bombastic) bass and drums collisions and Mad Whittaker's absolutely wild eyed vocal performance, somehow punk operatic is something to behold. While comparisons, descriptors are unnecessary really I am feeling some attitudinal shapes that have me flashing on early proto punk tones / angular progressivity ala Flamin' Groovies and Television but also (maybe) an amalgam of Björk's early punk manifestations like Tappi Tíkarrass and Kate Bush like experimental baroque pop kind of all smashed together.
LINER NOTES (bracketed):
[Lauren Gurgiolo, the gifted songwriter behind The Dialtones, is set to release an album that intimately explores her recent relapse with bipolar 1 disorder. Gurgiolo, whose musical prowess has been showcased with Okkervil River (2007 - 2015), The Octopus Project (2015-2018), and Erika Wennerstrom / The Heartless Bastards (2018- 2021), has graced the stages of the world's most renowned venues and festivals. She's lit up late-night TV shows with David Letterman, Conan, and Jimmy Fallon, and even made appearances in films. For a deep dive into Gurgiolo's multifaceted career, her Artist CV is a must-read. In 2005, Gurgiolo formed The Dialtones, but the band was always secondary to her role as a guitarist for other projects. However, her life took a dramatic turn in the fall of 2021 when Gurgiolo, diagnosed with bipolar disorder, experienced a psychotic manic episode that spanned over a year. Amidst creating a Dialtones album, she abandoned her loved ones, her partner, and her career, and embarked on a surreal journey filled with auditory and visual hallucinations, multiple personalities, and delusional thoughts. As a sci-fi enthusiast, Gurgiolo wove a tapestry of sci-fi narratives that became her reality, featuring time-traveling aliens, artificial realities, self-aware quantum computers (one of her alters), and a struggle to save existence itself.. “It’s a wonder I’m alive.” - Gurgiolo]
AND
[Monk exemplifies the type of overreaching, black-and-white concepts that intrigue me when I am in a hypomanic state. Hypomania is a milder form of mania that I experience at the beginning and end of manic episodes. The song raises questions about whether human progress since the agricultural age has been worthwhile. Influenced by the works of Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung, the song portrays modern life as being psychologically at odds with our roots as hunter-gatherers. For the majority of human history, spanning some 300,000 years, we lived in harmony with the earth in egalitarian societies, much longer than we have existed as modern humans.
In these societies, everyone received equal nourishment regardless of their abilities or circumstances. Having lived near homeless encampments, it appears that our modern ethics are lacking and that we have lost something valuable.]
The Dialtones' music from top to bottom is heady stuff. In some ways it feels over my musical head but this track pulls at me. I cannot begin to fully understand Lauren Gurgiolo's challenges in dealing with a bipolar disease / situation but it is inspiring to think of her using it's many manifestations as seeds for art, for bloodletting. "Monk" is from her new EP "Static Sky" set to drop on April 11th (2025).
-Robb Donker Curtius
Lyrics
in the visible vies
indeterminate ties
independent for why
dismissively wise
details move so slow
nowhere to go
no reason because
we are removed from
time, kept so well
the grind set so fine
the summer savings shelled
out hell of mind
when you were me
and feelings were trees
tireless mountains roamed
with no weight of our own
in the sun was a box
DNA of hearts
made to dance and move
the dirty bodies
until, kept locked away
ledgers fade to dust
photos won't convert
lost reference points
viable as they run
visors indent upon
the essential comes
in lonely sons
and the globe solely shrinks
and the globe slowly shrinks
closers far away
point starts to cease
details like steam
melt a heartbeat
https://www.instagram.com/thedialtones
https://www.facebook.com/lauren.gurgiolo/
independent for why
dismissively wise
details move so slow
nowhere to go
no reason because
we are removed from
time, kept so well
the grind set so fine
the summer savings shelled
out hell of mind
when you were me
and feelings were trees
tireless mountains roamed
with no weight of our own
in the sun was a box
DNA of hearts
made to dance and move
the dirty bodies
until, kept locked away
ledgers fade to dust
photos won't convert
lost reference points
viable as they run
visors indent upon
the essential comes
in lonely sons
and the globe solely shrinks
and the globe slowly shrinks
closers far away
point starts to cease
details like steam
melt a heartbeat
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://www.instagram.com/thedialtones
https://www.facebook.com/lauren.gurgiolo/
https://www.instagram.com/im_mad_about_it/
Lauren Gurgiolo, the gifted songwriter behind The Dialtones, is set to release an album that intimately explores her recent relapse with bipolar 1 disorder. Gurgiolo, whose musical prowess has been showcased with Okkervil River (2007 - 2015), The Octopus Project (2015-2018), and Erika Wennerstrom / The Heartless Bastards (2018- 2021), has graced the stages of the world's most renowned venues and festivals. She's lit up late-night TV shows with David Letterman, Conan, and Jimmy Fallon, and even made appearances in films. For a deep dive into Gurgiolo's multifaceted career, her Artist CV is a must-read. In 2005, Gurgiolo formed The Dialtones, but the band was always secondary to her role as a guitarist for other projects. However, her life took a dramatic turn in the fall of 2021 when Gurgiolo, diagnosed with bipolar disorder, experienced a psychotic manic episode that spanned over a year. Amidst creating a Dialtones album, she abandoned her loved ones, her partner, and her career, and embarked on a surreal journey filled with auditory and visual hallucinations, multiple personalities, and delusional thoughts. As a sci-fi enthusiast, Gurgiolo wove a tapestry of sci-fi narratives that became her reality, featuring time-traveling aliens, artificial realities, self-aware quantum computers (one of her alters), and a struggle to save existence itself.. “It’s a wonder I’m alive.” - Gurgiolo
Lauren Gurgiolo, the gifted songwriter behind The Dialtones, is set to release an album that intimately explores her recent relapse with bipolar 1 disorder. Gurgiolo, whose musical prowess has been showcased with Okkervil River (2007 - 2015), The Octopus Project (2015-2018), and Erika Wennerstrom / The Heartless Bastards (2018- 2021), has graced the stages of the world's most renowned venues and festivals. She's lit up late-night TV shows with David Letterman, Conan, and Jimmy Fallon, and even made appearances in films. For a deep dive into Gurgiolo's multifaceted career, her Artist CV is a must-read. In 2005, Gurgiolo formed The Dialtones, but the band was always secondary to her role as a guitarist for other projects. However, her life took a dramatic turn in the fall of 2021 when Gurgiolo, diagnosed with bipolar disorder, experienced a psychotic manic episode that spanned over a year. Amidst creating a Dialtones album, she abandoned her loved ones, her partner, and her career, and embarked on a surreal journey filled with auditory and visual hallucinations, multiple personalities, and delusional thoughts. As a sci-fi enthusiast, Gurgiolo wove a tapestry of sci-fi narratives that became her reality, featuring time-traveling aliens, artificial realities, self-aware quantum computers (one of her alters), and a struggle to save existence itself.. “It’s a wonder I’m alive.” - Gurgiolo
The Dialtones, prolific songwriter / guitarist Lauren Gurgiolo, "Monk" (Official Video), progressive rock, indie rock, alt rock, experimental rock, dream theater, art punk, art rock, new EP "Static Sky",
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