They Are Gutting a Body of Water (TAGABOW; stylized in

all lowercase Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing systems ...

) is an American

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with dream pop) is a subgenre of indie rock, indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion (music), distortion and effects, a ...

band from

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. The band was initially the solo project of songwriter and guitarist Douglas Dulgarian, but has expanded to a full lineup including bassist Emily Lofing, guitarist PJ Carroll, and drummer Ben Opatut.

History

Douglas Dulgarian (born 1990 or 1991) grew up in

Middletown, New York Middletown is the largest Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in Orange County, New York, Orange County, New York, United States. It lies in New York's Hudson Valley region, near the Wallkill River and the foothills of the Shawangunk ...

. He relocated to Albany in 2010, where he formed the band Jouska. In 2016, Jouska put out the album ''topiary'' and Dulgarian moved to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and began to perform as TAGABOW with drummer Ben Opatut. TAGABOW began as a solo project by Dulgarian with the tapes ''they are gutting a body of water'' and ''sweater curse''. The band released its first proper album, ''gestures been'', in 2018. In 2019, TAGABOW released ''Destiny XL'', which was recorded in a former

house show A house show (also commonly called a live event) is a professional wrestling event produced by a major Professional wrestling promotion, promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in o ...

venue in

West Philadelphia West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia. Although there are no officially defined boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Avenue to the n ...

. The album was re-released in 2021 by Citrus City Records. In 2022, the band announced their signing to California label Smoking Room and released the split EP ''An Insult to the Sport'' and the album ''lucky styles''. That same year, Jouska released ''visions from the bridge'', originally planned for 2018, and Dulgarian put out a rap EP under the name FC Goris. In 2023, Dulgarian contributed to seven tracks on Jane Remover's album '' Census Designated,'' and TAGABOW released the visual album ''Expansion Pak'' on YouTube. In 2024, the band released the single "Krillin" featuring Greg Mendez and Sun Organ. Dulgarian also runs Julia's War Recordings, which has put out music from acts including Feeble Little Horse,

Wednesday Wednesday is the day of the week between Tuesday and Thursday. According to international standard ISO 8601, it is the third day of the week. In English, the name is derived from Old English and Middle English , 'day of Woden', reflecting ...

, and

MJ Lenderman Mark Jacob Lenderman (born February 4, 1999), also known as MJ Lenderman and Jake Lenderman is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His style has been described as indie rock and alternative country. Lenderman joined the band ...

. Rather than focusing on certain genres, Julia's War releases "whatever music ulgarianlikes, usually made by his friends".

Reception and musical style

TAGABOW's music has been highly praised by critics. Philadelphia radio station

WXPN WXPN (88.5 FM) is a non-commercial, public radio station licensed to the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that broadcasts an adult album alternative (AAA) radio format, along with many other format sh ...

wrote that " spite being a sonic blur, ''Destiny XL'' has this eerie ability to elicit hyper-specific feelings that blindside you" and described the band as "a homage to the unknown, to the visceral, and to the things that haunt us." ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

'' described ''An Insult to the Sport'' as "one of the year’s best EPs", called ''lucky styles'' "beautiful and fascinating", and included TAGABOW as part of a larger "new wave of American

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

described ''lucky styles'' as "a twisted tour of the band's every impulse". ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. The ''Reader'' has been ...

'' praised the "loose, uninhibited creativity" of ''lucky styles'' and said the band "toy with shoegaze like Van Leeuwen screws around with ice cream". Genres besides shoegaze that have influenced the band include

drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...

breakcore Breakcore is a style of electronic dance music that emerged from jungle, hardcore, and drum and bass in the mid-to-late 1990s. It is characterized by very complex and intricate breakbeats and a wide palette of sampling sources played at high ...

jungle jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅgala'' ...

, and

reggaeton Reggaeton (, ) is a modern style of popular music, popular and electronic music that originated in Panamanian reggaetón, Panama during the late 1980s, and which rose to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s through a plethora of Puert ...

. TAGABOW has been compared to the Irish band My Bloody Valentine and to Philadelphia contemporaries

Alex G Alexander Giannascoli (born February 3, 1993), better known by his stage names Alex G or, formerly, (Sandy) Alex G, is an American musician, producer, and singer-songwriter. He started his career playing in multiple local bands such as the Skin ...

and

the Spirit of the Beehive ''The Spirit of the Beehive'' () is a 1973 Spanish drama film directed and co-written by Víctor Erice. The film was Erice's feature directorial debut and is considered a masterpiece of Spanish cinema. The film, set in a small town in post-Civil ...

. Dulgarian has additionally cited the Philadelphia band Blue Smiley as a major influence on the band's sound and

William Gibson William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as cyberpunk. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, his ear ...

's book ''

Neuromancer ''Neuromancer'' is a 1984 science fiction novel by American-Canadian author William Gibson. Set in a near-future dystopia, the narrative follows Case, a computer hacker enlisted into a crew by a powerful artificial intelligence and a traumatis ...

'' as an influence on ''Destiny XL'' specifically. Original breakcore and

ambient Ambient or ambiance or ambience may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ambiancé'', an unreleased experimental film * ''Ambient'' (novel), a novel by Jack Womack Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgr ...

interludes produced by Dulgarian feature prominently on both ''Destiny XL'' and ''lucky styles,'' and are played on a sampler while the band tunes during live sets. TAGABOW is known to perform on the floor instead of the stage while facing away from the audience. At one point, they played a show at a

Sonic Drive-In Sonic Corporation, founded as Sonic Drive-In and more commonly known as Sonic (stylized in all caps), is an American drive-in fast-food Chain store, chain owned by Inspire Brands, the parent company of Arby's, Jimmy John's, Buffalo Wild Wings, ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Extended plays

Singles

Jouska discography

* ''This Kid Thinks Hes Sick. EP'' (2015) * ''Topiary'' (2016) * ''From Elson to Emmett'' (2018) * ''Visions From the Bridge'' (recorded 2018, released 2022)

Notes

References

External links

they are gutting a body of water
on

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

I Think It's Over
{{Authority control American shoegaze musical groups Musical groups from Philadelphia Musical groups established in 2017 Topshelf Records artists American experimental rock groups Electronic music groups from Pennsylvania