Bizzare collides with chaos for The Garden’s latest cataclysmic multitude of sound release, Haha.

Identical twin brothers Wyatt, and Fletcher Shears’ two-piece bass and drum outfit ensnares the listener into their concoction of conceptual punk, flirted with 20th century Hip Hop and EDM on this 17 track, 34 minute debut via Epitaph/Burger Records.

Not subscribing to any categorization or genre, The Garden prefer to harness their own “Vada Vada” conceptualisation or as Wyatt describes “an idea that represents pure creative expression, that disregards all previously made genres and ideals”.

A refreshingly self-assured outlook present immediately from the opener ‘All Smiles Over Here :)’ (“This is my life and this is how I choose to live it”) which gives way to an unpredictable and difficulty unclassifiable album. Indeed perfectly encapsulating The Garden’s ability to defy the constraints of labelling and challenge the convenience of grouping, meaning Haha doesn’t become another album to easily digest and forget.

Prodigy-esque Nineties dance is resurrected in later numbers ‘Cloak’ and ‘Together We are Great’ alongside the Electronic ‘We Be Grindin’’ (“We be grindin’, grindin’, grindin’ up in the clubs / We be lookin’, lookin’, lookin’ to get all crunk”) to clash beautifully with cheerier, keyboard melody littered ‘Egg’. A clash that continues The Garden’s pledge to defy mainstream coherence, shatter album genre singularity and work to create a work of instability and unpredictability.

The Shears twins certainly have produced a work to divide listeners in two, between confused exclusion and respectful admiration by creating a definitive ode to several genres in boundless fashion.

The Garden hurtle their punk/ hip-hop hybrid into view, arriving in Leeds at Headrow House on 8th November.

 

Jessica Heath