Gilla Band – Giraffe
Four years since Most Normal and three since one-off single “Sports Day”, Gilla Band are back. “Giraffe” is out now on Rough Trade Records, available as a limited 7″ picture disc. The video is by Cuan Roche and Chanthila Phaophanit. No album announced yet.
The structure of the track is the thing. It opens in relatively controlled territory: a locked bassline from Daniel Fox, Dara Kiely’s drawl sitting on top, guitars from Alan Duggan Borges building in. Then, about halfway through, the floor drops out and something else takes over: a skittering drum pattern, a hard pivot toward techno and club music, before the two halves start pushing against each other in a way that doesn’t so much resolve as grind to coexistence. Gilla Band have always played noise rock against electronic production, but “Giraffe” is probably their most direct collision of the two. It’s also, oddly, one of their more approachable tracks without being any less strange.
Kiely is direct about what the two halves mean. The opening sections are his general headspace: scattered, lonely, struggling to articulate. The outro is something else, a confirmation that affection exists whether or not he can fully accept it. “She chased me out the door with a hairbrush demanding that I would wear a suitable jacket,” he says. “It’s a very Irish Mammy action. That amount of love is difficult for me to accept but it is a beautiful thing to have in life.” That’s the most tender thing I’ve heard Gilla Band gesture toward, and the fact that it arrives wrapped in a noise-techno breakdown makes it land harder.
North American touring starts in October, with Europe and UK dates running through February 2027.
North America
- 10/14/26 / Philadelphia, PA, USA / Underground Arts
- 10/15/26 / Brooklyn, NY, USA / Elsewhere, The Hall
- 10/17/26 / Allston, MA, USA / Brighton Music Hall
- 10/19/26 / Montreal, QC, Canada / Fairmount Theatre
- 10/20/26 / Toronto, ON, Canada / Lee’s Palace
- 10/21/26 / Detroit, MI, USA / Third Man Records, Cass Corridor
- 10/23/26 / Chicago, IL, USA / The Bottom Lounge
- 10/24/26 / Saint Paul, MN, USA / Turf Club
- 10/27/26 / Denver, CO, USA / Bluebird Theater
- 10/28/26 / Salt Lake City, UT, USA / Kilby Court
- 10/30/26 / Portland, OR, USA / Mississippi Studios
- 10/31/26 / Vancouver, BC, Canada / The Pearl on Granville
- 11/01/26 / Seattle, WA, USA / Neumos
- 11/03/26 / San Francisco, CA, USA / The Independent
- 11/04/26 / Los Angeles, CA, USA / Lodge Room Highland Park
- 11/07/26 / Phoenix, AZ, USA / Valley Bar
- 11/08/26 / Santa Fe, NM, USA / Meow Wolf
- 11/10/26 / Austin, TX, USA / 29th Street Ballroom
- 11/11/26 / Denton, TX, USA / Rubber Gloves Showroom
- 11/13/26 / Nashville, TN, USA / The Blue Room at Third Man Records
- 11/14/26 / Carrboro, NC, USA / Cat’s Cradle (Back Room)
- 11/15/26 / Washington, DC, USA / The Atlantis
Europe
- 01/20/27 / Paris, France / Trabendo
- 01/21/27 / Brussels, Belgium / Le Botanique
- 01/22/27 / Tourcoing, France / Le Grand Mix
- 01/23/27 / Amsterdam, Netherlands / Tolhuistuin
- 01/25/27 / Utrecht, Netherlands / Ekko
- 01/26/27 / Hamburg, Germany / Betty
- 01/27/27 / Copenhagen, Denmark / Loppen
- 01/29/27 / Berlin, Germany / SO36
- 01/30/27 / Warsaw, Poland / Hydrozagadka
- 01/31/27 / Prague, Czech Republic / Subzero
- 02/02/27 / Budapest, Hungary / Durer Kert
- 02/03/27 / Vienna, Austria / Flucc Wanne
- 02/05/27 / Zurich, Switzerland / Bogen F
- 02/06/27 / Milan, Italy / Arci Bellezza
UK
- 02/10/27 / Bristol, UK / Trinity
- 02/11/27 / London, UK / Heaven
- 02/12/27 / Manchester, UK / Band on the Wall
- 02/13/27 / Glasgow, UK / Grand Classic
