Hardcore punk band that started in Youngstown, Ohio. Our take: Very limited, self-released LP from this band out of Ohio. Gills base their sound on Negative Approach’s oi!-tinged hardcore with rage-o-meter fully in the red, but Dried Clothes isn’t all meat and potatoes. Gills’ location, along with the Nathan Ward artwork, brings to mind the Cruelster / Knowso axis of bands, and whether or not there’s any actual connection there, Gills shares some of those bands’ quirkiness. The lyrics to “Bird Rage” (from what I can make out) have a surrealist bent, there are a few samples, and a bit of unexpected instrumentation occasionally peeks from behind the curtain. Those quirks might turn off purists, but in my book this is still a solid rager. The band only pressed 150 copies and there’s hardly any info about Gills on the internet, though, so it’s up to you whether the mystery is enough to draw you in.
