GONG GONG GONG - Phantom Rhythm LP (colour vinyl)

Limited edition red colour vinyl.

Highly recommended.

Tom Ng was the mastermind of one of my favorite bands of the past decade-plus-change, OFFSET: SPECTACLES. If you've spent any time in the store the past 12 months you've heard me try to entice you into the "phantom rhythm" world of OFFSET SPECTACLES as they combine the Velvets with Suicide, Wire and P.K. 14 to create music-induced trances.

Ng's current outfit Gong Gong Gong, who are clearly traversing similar musical territory - stark and repetitive blues-guitar grooves with minimal accompaniment and sparse melodies.

Unfair though it may be, I can’t help but hold it up against The Offset: Spectacles, and while Gong Gong Gong does not reach the same creative peaks nor deliver the same distinct earworm hooks, it’s still cool as hell.

Tom Ng plays with variations of Bo Diddley riffs and bassist Joshua Frank fills the gaps, almost reminiscent of Peter Hook’s Joy Division style, except these songs approach post-punk from a rockist, non-goth, non-dancey perspective.

The chord progressions that appear are familiar ground for stoner-rockers like Nebula and Sleep, but Gong Gong Gong eschew fuzz-distortion and percussion almost entirely (certainly no drums, at least), so the whole thing feels unlike anything played by groups that do not feature Tom Ng as a member.

It’s most exciting when the hot slashes of guitar provide the percussive elements (see “地下日記 Notes Underground” or “騎你的馬 Ride Your Horse”) and Frank jabs up and down his bass, writing his own song within the song, which thankfully happens often.