They Are Gutting a Body of Water

They are Gutting a Body of Water, aka TAGABOW, is a Philadelphia based shoegaze band led by guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist Douglas Dulgarian. They play shoegaze in terms of tone and texture, especially with their use of distorted guitar noise, a murky overall sound, and hazy vocals, and it is loud and abrasive, as par for the course. There is a growing experimental layer in there as well, which becomes especially prominent on their 2022 album Lucky Styles (released as S on some streaming platforms) where they incorporate quirky shifts and playful sonic effects that seem to borrow from the video game soundtrack vocabulary, as they also shift more to the side of instrumentals on balance. The effect is somewhat psychedelic, but also serves as a nice way to break the intensity that comes with the genre just a bit.