It's been a while since we've heard from Chicago post-punkers Ganser, but they're coming back with a new album called Animal Hospital later this summer. Ganser recorded the LP with Liars frontman Angus Andrew, who also produced their 2022 EP Nothing You Do Matters. Lead single "Black Sand" is a tough, slashing rocker. It's physical and immediate, and it also sounds like it's falling apart in real time -- always a cool combination. Here's what band member Alicia Gaines says about the LP:
The album is about that space between what we are and what we pretend to be. You’ve got instincts: raw, animal things—and then all these systems we build, all these dreams of being civilized or advanced or whatever. But those two things don’t always line up. And time doesn’t care. Time just keeps going. It pulls everything apart, slow and quiet like water in the walls. And we’re all just in there, making noise, trying to figure out which side of the glass we’re on.
And here's what singer Sophie Sputnik says about "Black Sand":
When I wrote these lyrics a few years ago, there were wildfires, real ones, and a lot of talk around LGBTQ rights in Florida, where I’m from. And it’s strange because these things, they don’t just go away. They linger. They shift. They burn, and then they burn differently. And here we are, still talking about wildfires and LGBTQ rights in Florida.
Below, check out the Gaines-directed "Black Sand" video and the Animal Hospital tracklist.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Black Sand"
02 "stripe"
03 "Ten Miles Tall"
04 "Dig Until I Reach the Moon"
05 "Grounding Exercises"
06 "Half Plastic"
07 "Speaking of the future,"
08 "Creature Habits"
09 "Lounger"
10 "Discount Diamonds"
11 "Plato"
12 "Left To Chance"
Animal Hospital is out 8/TK on felte. Ganser will play 6/22 at Minneapolis' Hook & Ladder Theater and 7/5 at Chicago's Sleeping Village.
