Chicago’s Ganser return with their most electrifying statement yet. Animal Hospital (out August 29 via felte) is a volatile, pulse-pounding leap forward from a band already known for shattering genre walls. With roots in no wave, art rock, and post-punk, Ganser refuse to sit still—and this album proves their instincts are sharper, stranger, and more thrilling than ever.
Opening track “Black Sand” sets the tone with Sophie Sputnik’s razor-edged vocals slicing through a whirl of guitars and pummeling drums, daring listeners: “don’t speak, don’t say it, if you put in the air I might catch it.” It’s a song born from wildfires and the ongoing fight for LGBTQ+ rights—a metaphor for the chaos that refuses to be silenced. These aren’t just protest songs; they’re battle cries wrapped in surrealism and searing honesty.
Produced again by Angus Andrew (Liars), Animal Hospital explores the tension between instinct and artifice—our raw animal selves versus the structures we build to contain them. The trio—Alicia Gaines, Sophie Sputnik, and Brian Cundiff—craft kinetic, often feral rhythms that seem to unravel even as they hypnotize. Basslines rumble like buried thoughts, guitars shimmer and stab, and synths flicker like warning lights on a cracked dashboard.
Ganser captures a world unraveling—and dances through it. This is music that refuses clarity, embraces contradiction, and finds catharsis in the blur. With Animal Hospital, Ganser aren’t just making noise—they’re making meaning from the chaos, and it sounds absolutely vital.