Eye Contact is the fifth studio album by American experimental music band Gang Gang Dance, released on May 10, 2011. It is the collective's first album to be released under the 4AD banner.[4]
| Eye Contact | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 2011 | |||
| Recorded | May 2010 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 47:55 | |||
| Label | 4AD | |||
| Producer |
| |||
| Gang Gang Dance chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 8.1/10[6] |
| Metacritic | 83/100[7] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [4] |
| The A.V. Club | B[2] |
| The Guardian | [3] |
| The Irish Times | [8] |
| Mojo | [9] |
| NME | 8/10[10] |
| Pitchfork | 8.5/10[5] |
| Rolling Stone |  [1] |
| Spin | 8/10[11] |
| Uncut | [12] |
The record is their first and final to feature Jesse Lee handling drumming duties after original drummer Tim Dewit's 2008 departure. Eye Contact also consists of contributions from bassist Tim Koh of Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti and Alexis Taylor of alternative dance / synth-pop collective Hot Chip.
Stereogum placed the album at number 6 on its list of the "Top 50 albums of 2011".[13] Uncut placed the album at number 22 on its list[14] while Pitchfork placed the album at 25.[15]
Musical style
editEye Contact follows 2008's lauded Saint Dymphna, which consisted of genres ranging from dance-rock[16] to dubstep[4] to grime.[4]
Eye Contact would follow in the avant-garde footsteps the group had become known and applauded for. However, its accessibility would be heightened more than that of its predecessors, being dubbed as the collective's 'first true "pop" record'.[4] The "murky layers of production, angular, abstract dark corners, and black holes of space and rawness" defining the past Gang Gang Dance works had departed, in the opinion of AllMusic's Thom Jurek.[4]
In contrast, Pitchfork's Aaron Leitko did not consider it pop, but rather "the stuff of pop records collected, melted down, and then dribbled Jackson Pollock-style onto a canvas."[5]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Glass Jar" | 11:22 |
| 2. | "∞" | 1:03 |
| 3. | "Adult Goth" | 6:16 |
| 4. | "Chinese High" | 5:13 |
| 5. | "MindKilla" | 5:17 |
| 6. | "∞∞" | 1:34 |
| 7. | "Romance Layers" (featuring Alexis Taylor) | 4:25 |
| 8. | "Sacer" | 5:40 |
| 9. | "∞∞∞" | 1:25 |
| 10. | "Thru and Thru" | 5:40 |
Personnel
edit- Lizzi Bougatsos – lead vocals
- Brian Degraw – keyboards
- Josh Diamond – guitar
- Taka Imamura – visual artwork
- Jesse Lee – drums
Additional personnel
- Tim Koh – bass guitar on #4
- Alexis Taylor – additional vocals on #7
References
edit- ^ a b Weiner, Jonah (May 10, 2011). "Eye Contact". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
- ^ a b Matos, Michaelangelo (May 10, 2011). "Gang Gang Dance: Eye Contact". The A.V. Club. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
- ^ a b Cragg, Michael (May 5, 2011). "Gang Gang Dance: Eye Contact – review". The Guardian. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g Jurek, Thom. "Eye Contact – Gang Gang Dance". AllMusic. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
- ^ a b c Leitko, Aaron (May 6, 2011). "Gang Gang Dance: Eye Contact". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
- ^ "Eye Contact by Gang Gang Dance reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
- ^ "Reviews for Eye Contact by Gang Gang Dance". Metacritic. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
- ^ Carroll, Jim (May 6, 2011). "Gang Gang Dance". The Irish Times. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
- ^ "Gang Gang Dance: Eye Contact". Mojo (211): 93. June 2011.
- ^ Turner, Luke (May 4, 2011). "Album Review: Gang Gang Dance – 'Eye Contact'". NME. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
- ^ Martins, Chris (May 10, 2011). "Gang Gang Dance, 'Eye Contact' (4AD)". Spin. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
- ^ "Gang Gang Dance: Eye Contact". Uncut (169): 85. June 2011.
- ^ "Stereogum's Top 50 Albums of 2011". Pitchfork. December 5, 2011. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
- ^ "Uncut's Top 50 Albums of 2011". 29 November 2011.
- ^ Nick Neyland. "Staff Lists: The Top 50 Albums of 2011". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 2012-01-08. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
- ^ Christgau, Robert. "Gang Gang Dance". Retrieved 23 November 2019.