Lotto＜Blue & Red Vinyl＞

They Are Gutting a Body of Water originally began as the solo project of Doug Dulgarian, who established a digitally enhanced version of shoegaze which frequently detoured into electronic noise interludes and drumnbass breakbeats. Eventually, he embraced a full-band format, and became known for shows where the musicians face each other on the floor instead of playing on-stage. LOTTO is the groups attempt to create a raw, live-to-tape album rather than something engineered and assembled on a computer. The records dark, crushing shoegaze songs feature cryptic, fragmented lyrics which offer perspectives on an uncertain life that feels like its on the brink of disaster. Many of the songs seem to address drug addiction and other coping mechanisms. One of the lines that sticks out the most is when Dulgarian intones, "Your moneys no good here, the bad way" during the Slint-like spoken monologue of opener "the chase." More than the lyrics, though, the albums heavy, piercing guitar riffs are what hit the hardest about the music. Tracks like "sour diesel" and "trainers" simply crush, while "violence iii" has more of a cool, atmospheric wash before it takes a heavy plunge. While LOTTO does generally feel like more of a direct rock record than other TAGABOW releases, theres still some experimentation and incorporation of different genres, from the frantic turntable scratching of "american food" to the submerged breaks of "herpim." LOTTO is disorienting and messy, but theres undoubtedly something real and honest about it. ~ Paul Simpson