The Gluts - Dengue Fever Hypnotic Trip (2019)

Milan’s fast-rising noise-punks The Gluts are back with their ferocious third album Dengue Fever Hypnotic Trip, due for release on [date] via London-label Fuzz Club. Inspired by bassist Claudia Cesana’s recent encounter with both dengue fever and malaria simultaneously, it’s perhaps no surprise that the album is an intense, claustrophobic listen. Though the title talks of hypnotic trips, there’s no kaleidoscopic motifs to be found here, instead just a piercing noise-rock fever dream in which you’re losing control: “Dengue Fever Hypnotic Trip is a trip. Dengue fever, together with malaria, is what Claudia actually experienced. It’s like a fuzz that punches you square in your face in an overloaded hypnotic way, and we wanted to show that in the music,” the band explain.

Produced by Bob de Wit (Gnod, A Place To Bury Strangers), the album is The Gluts’ most challenging but determined work yet. Tracks such as ‘E. The Real Punk Rocker’, ‘True Rose’ and ‘Leviathan’ are grimacing noise-rock scorchers that break down into tinnitus-inducing crescendos of razor-sharp guitar noise, screeching electronics and barking vocals. Despite their sonic belligerence, the band are still attuned to the odd melody too, albeit one naturally hypnotic and cloaked in reverb: ‘Swamp’ and the 11-minute ‘Dalal’s Song’ deal in a visceral, shoegaze-y post-punk sound that drifts into dreamier territories, the latter seeing Claudia’s mesmerising vocals bring a brief almost-mystical respite from the all-out noise that’s always looming around the corner.

In the couple of years leading up to Dengue Fever Hypnotic Trip, The Gluts have been playing packed-out shows across the UK and Europe, picking up a formidable reputation for their intense, deafening but fun-as-hell live show. This new album sees them encompass all of that across a seven-track noise-rock masterclass that can be a challenging but always-rewarding listen. This is the sound of a band on top form.