The Guru Guru’s particular brand of chaotic, experimental art-rock could never be described as mainstream. Bringing together the chunky, dissonant riffs of Queens Of The Stone Age, the untethered experimentation of The Mars Volta or Radiohead and, through the band’s often pyjama clad frontman Tom The Bomb, the wide-eyed, deranged humour of comedian/performance artist Andy Kaufman. On their latest album however, the band seem to have found a brilliant midpoint between their outlandish sensibilities and a sound that won’t scare away mainstream audiences.
Make (Less) Babies gives The Guru Guru room to explore both their most experimental and most conventional sounding ideas yet without, like some of their previous work, becoming too inaccessible. Many of the album’s tracks, particularly ‘Lotta Tension’ which keeps the band’s distinctly tongue in cheek humour and frantic energy intact while shifting to a more garage rock feel, lean into tried and tested rock structures while putting a signature explorative spin on them. Everything about Make (Less) Babies feels deliberate and planned, from the tight, punchy drums to the politically aware, humorous lyrics, in a way that elevates their innovative songwriting instead of diminishing it.
“Everything about Make (Less) Babies feels deliberate and planned, from the tight, punchy drums to the politically aware, humorous lyrics”
Just because The Guru Guru have learned to restrain their experimental tendencies doesn’t mean that Make (Less) Babies is any less inventive than their previous work. From the funky, psychedelic warble of ‘Lemon-aid, Lemon-cello (The Bear Dance)’ to the more subdued, wandering bass led ‘Saint-Tropez’, Make (Less) Babies is constantly shifting and changing before pouncing on the listener with creative new musical ideas. Even when The Guru Guru are at their most eccentric there’s always that sense of intent here, without feeling stiff every single choice feels right for the moment no matter how strange.
The track ‘In 2073 (Plenty Of Other Fish In The Sea)’ is a highlight on the album, allowing Tom The Bomb to take on the role of tour guide through an imagined Europe after rising sea levels have created new seaside resorts. The Guru Guru paint a vivid picture of an all-too-possible near future in intricate detail, recommending seafood dishes from “The beach of Brussels” or “The docks of Warsaw” with an intertwining, sliding guitar and bass riff as a backdrop. By taking on the viewpoint of a tour guide in these fictional places The Guru Guru can keep their upbeat, off-kilter sound intact while making an impactful point about humanity’s effect on our planet and the continued commodification of coastal land even as it’s becoming uninhabitable.
“Make (Less) Babies is constantly shifting and changing before pouncing on the listener with creative new musical ideas.”
Make (Less) Babies is almost an album of two halves, starting off manic with tracks like ‘Jack Shit/Jackpot’ and lead single ‘Make Less Babies’ before sliding into a depressive, yet just as musically explorative, melancholy towards the end. The concluding tracks ‘Oh, Me (I Can’t Complain)’ and ‘Jokes On You (Under Over)’ retain The Guru Guru’s enthusiasm for experimentation while letting the tongue-in-cheek mask slip a little, revealing genuine fears for the present and future, with the band’s trademark humour fading into pensive self-reflection like a clown washing off their makeup at the end of a show. The album’s finale ‘Jokes On You (Under Over)’ is one of The Guru Guru’s most ambitious songs to date, swirling with atmosphere and building up to an explosive, emotional crescendo.
Make (Less) Babies is an impressive project that compresses the wild, explorative spirit of The Guru Guru into an easily understood package. Although not as combatively obtuse as their previous work Make (Less) Babies finds time to experiment with interesting musical ideas and complex lyrical themes without getting so avant-garde that it scares off newcomers.