Album Review: Big Gorilla

There have obviously been a few late nights to account for musical developments in the world of Social Shun since the release of Garden of Sweden, specifically in the technical proficiency and attention to detail departments of their chosen art form.

Close to safely being classified as Industrial, Big Gorilla is less of a stew of different kinds of chaos, and more consistently chaotic. With their second album Social Shun have created a fluid album, which plays out more like a journey (or trip) than a collection of songs and in doing so have defined the Social Shun sound.

Big Gorilla is a fine example of making music for yourself, by yourself. It makes for a well seasoned broth, unsullied by too many cooks in the kitchen, and that’s how you truly feel for and flesh out a musician as an individual, without a confluence of influences.

While the outsider may not have the required back story to enjoy the splattering of inside jokes (like the reason for the album title) and the relevance of certain samples and song, those curious can quickly catch up via the Social Shun Facebook, which has provided valuable insight into the artistic process, which is something I always find fascinating, especially with home recording musicians.

This kind of release will never float in the mainstream, but there is a large underground market and fandom deserving of a release like Big Gorilla, a product which is imaginative, inspired and catchy as a cocaine buzz for the correctly wired consciousness.

Big Gorilla and Garden of Sweden are available from the Social Shun Bandcamp Page.