Gashcat has made quite an impactive musical statement with their debut record release. Put simply, they take what is known of classic pop music and inject it with a healthy dose of rock and folk medicine. Gashcat’s new album showcases strong melodies, syncopated rhythms, percolating brass involvements and natural, expressive harmonization. It is everything good about pop presented in an explosively awesome yet eloquently executed package known quaintly as Reunion!

Currently composed of members Kyle Craft (vocals, guitar), Rick Hancock (bass), Haley Massey (xylophone), Logan Greene (noisemaker extraordinaire), Josh Long (brass), and Ray Borboa (percussion, drums), Gashcat holds influences in both recent artists (Arcade Fire, The Magnetic Fields) and rock bastions of the ‘60’s and ‘70’s (Dylan, Bowie, Kinks, Beatles, Beach Boys). Reunion! was recorded in a boathouse (not to be mistaken for a houseboat) in Louisiana belonging to Kyle’s father. In the wake of production, it seems that fish-tinged air and gasoline-soaked floorboards proved beneficial. Reunion! carries ten tracks that seamlessly melt together psychedelic fuzz, raw punk undertones, soaring folk compositions and melodic sweetness before bringing it to one hell of a boil.

Reunion! reflects a variety of personal circumstances to singer/songwriter Kyle Craft: “I just write what I see, I write about people that pass through. The songs mean a lot to me, but for anyone else, they’re open to swallow them in their own way.” The album itself leads you through a musical rollercoaster, if not an emotional one. Reunion! introduces Kyle’s gritty yet refined vocal talent with opening track “The Morning Sun,” accompanied by rolling toms, crashing cymbals, staccato-like guitar riffs and brass harmonies. Songs “Every Summer, Every Spring,” “I Build Machines,” and “Sleeper” hold similar constructions and are matched with Gashcat’s signature fuzz and whimsical noisemaking and synthesizing. Turning the heat down to a simmer, Gashcat reveals tracks like “Melanie,” “Glitter,” and their instrumental “Ship Island.” “Melanie” presents fluid guitar chords accompanied by languid tambourine, only later to be effortlessly combined with swaying trumpet and their iconic cymbal clashes.

With Reunion!, the listener is hooked by well-developed verses and choruses, and while they are tastefully catchy, they are neither overdone nor mediocre. This album has proven Gashcat can literally and successfully grasp indie pop by the horns, marinate it in rock salt (pun intended), and create something deliciously fresh and musically appetizing. --Whitney LeFevre