They Are Gutting A Body Of Water - LOTTO [Red Ripple Vinyl]

Hailed by Stereogum as "the most important band in modern shoegaze," They Are Gutting a Body of Water (TAGABOW) made their name approaching the genre with an experimental edge. Douglas Dulgarian began making noise as TAGABOW in 2017, playing house shows and releasing early cassettes like 2017's Sweater Curse. The TAGABOW project came together as a flesh-and-blood band with bassist Emily Lofing, drummer Ben Opatut, and guitarist PJ Carroll. Released in October 2025, LOTTO marks the Philadelphia band's signing to ATO Records and their most ambitious work yet. This red ripple colored vinyl pressing captures the raw power of an album that confronts addiction, loss, and survival head-on.

The powerful burst of "the chase," a sludgy spoken-word rocker that concerns itself with the parallels between addiction and being in love, opens LOTTO with immense ferocity and attitude. Dulgarian anchors the album around this terrifying horror story where he agonizes his way through a drug relapse, with no reverb to hide his voice behind. "rl stine" contrasts perfectly with the fragile vocals of Dulgarian, here vaguely reminiscent of a young, mellow Kurt Cobain, while "trainers" dials his voice back even further to dance over a gorgeous, jangly guitar line, which explodes into full distortion during the chorus. "american food" is a road-trip swirl of sirens, hip-hop beats, DJ scratches, and a skewed folkie vocal chant through layers of distortion. The album includes a Fugazi cover with "slo crostic" and closes with "herpim," where a fragile electric strum meets up with an oddly nostalgic roller-rink organ.

At one point, drug problems damaged the nerves in Dulgarian's left arm, briefly forcing him to rely more on digital instruments that he could play with one hand. However, LOTTO is an attempt to capture the sound of four human musicians in a room. Dulgarian has made his Julia's War label a shoegaze mothership, putting out pivotal albums by Her New Knife, Ruth in the Bardo, Bad History Month, Glixen, and Mormon Toasterhead, as well as better-known names like Wednesday, MJ Lenderman, and Feeble Little Horse. This red ripple vinyl edition delivers every crushing guitar, every blast of feedback, and every vulnerable moment with visceral clarity. The album blends shoegaze density with grungy grit, noise rock experimentation, and lo-fi rock into something entirely their own.

• Format: Red Ripple Colored Vinyl LP
• Standout tracks: "the chase," "trainers," "rl stine"
• Pressing details: Standard pressing
• Genre/style: Shoegaze, Noise Rock, Experimental Rock, Lo-Fi Rock, Alternative Rock
• UPC: 880882670610

LOTTO shines most when They Are Gutting a Body of Water, TAGABOW, dare to plunge themselves into a somewhat psychedelic lo-fi rock that is all their own, cementing their status as one of the most vital voices in contemporary American underground music.

* The Spotify track list may not exactly represent the tracks and audio of this LP edition.

Track List:

Side A:

1. the chase
2. sour diesel
3. trainers
4. chrises head
5. rl stine

Side B:

1. slo crostic
2. yiolence iii
3. american food
4. baeside k
5. herpim