Jonathan Boulet has been called many things. Skate rat, wunderkind, wonder kid, sexy muthafucka, jack-off all trades, beluga whale due to his Roman nose and a candle in the wind. That’s all well and good and props to the musical genius, but who the hell is GUBBA? Courtesy of the wonder kid himself, we now know GUBBA is the Sydneysider’s third album set to be released this July and, to further tickle your fancy, he’s kindly provided the following description:
GUBBA is entirely self-produced and bludgeons like a doom record sped up to garage-punk tempos. GUBBA is faster, heavier and more direct than its predecessors. GUBBA is pop music with a scummy outer layer. GUBBA is not angry but likes to have fun.
Our first taste from Jonathan Boulet’s latest album is the punked up, noised out single Hold It Down. It’s really good.
As a sneaky peak into said faster, heavier and more direct times, he’s released the LP’s first single Hold It Down. The first thing you’ll notice about this track is that it’s different to the starry-eyed pop from his A Community Service Announcement beginnings. It seems those summery days are behind him, as well as that fun-loving beard*. After a year-long hiatus in Germany, Boulet has found his grimy punk side. I guess this happens when an Aussie kid endures an endless European winter sans crack.
Anyway, after a euro-winter-length’s time reacquainting with his less fluffy contemporaries like The Hives, Queens of the Stone Age, The Men, Pissed Jeans, Ceremony, and Fucked Up, Boulet has emerged from the land of green fairies, hash brownies and nude beaches (see EuroTrip for more clichés) with a rocking anthem to welcome in the era of a grungier Boulet sound. Guten Tag! Grimy like his former beard, Hold It Down is full of lower-fi garage-punk riffs as promised.
Shredding guitars, heavy drums and fuzzed out vocals, it’s a seriously reverb-thick ride. A frantic tempo mixed with rough and gruff tones, your raw serving of noise-pop à la Boulet awaits. We may never know what impact Boulet’s eurotrip really had on his music, but if the rest of his upcoming LP sounds anything like this first single I reckon we’re in for some seriously awesome stuff come July.
But hey, who better to talk up GUBBA than the international man of mystery himself?
*Please do not email Happy’s editorial team asking about how a beard can be fun loving. We don’t know.
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