Originally posted at LA Record on January 13, 2011:
Matt Gangi has to be some sort of genius, or better yet, a time traveler. Beaming back and forth between today and the 1970s, sampling tracks at will. Gangi released an impressing debut album in 2009, A, an eclectic mix of Jethro Tull meeting a drum machine with a soul. Following their roots, Gangi and new drummer, Eric Chromate, played some retooled tracks and new material to a packed crowd, Wednesday night at the Echo. The band opened with “The Outside Ones,” a new track from their upcoming album that made everyone clamoring for a drink, quickly turn and look as Gangi riffed a killer hook over Chromate’s relentless backbeat. As Chromate laid the tempo, Gangi stood hunched over his sequencer, operating dials like a chemist at work. The atmosphere this band creates as a two piece rivals bands twice their size, proving that less is more. They followed with “Gold,” another new track which sounds to be their diamond in the rough and a contender for radio play. As I stood there and watched Gangi belt out soulful lyrics while managing to play guitar and control a sampler at the same time, I began to wonder if I needed to review old film stock from the ’70s and see if I could spot a a familiar face.
—Carlos Villarreal