They Are Gutting A Body Of Water: LOTTO [Album Review]

They Are Gutting A Body Of Water
LOTTO
Julia’s War/Smoking Room/ATO Records [2025]

“Shoegaze with teeth—LOTTO is TAGABOW’s loudest, rawest cry for connection yet.”

Album Overview: They Are Gutting A Body Of Water—better known as TAGABOW—started as Doug Dulgarian’s solo project before growing into a full band with bassist Emily Lofing, guitarist PJ Carroll, and drummer Ben Opatut. Rooted in Philadelphia’s DIY scene, the group built its reputation on raw emotion, restless experimentation, and total disregard for genre fences. Dulgarian’s own story—marked by recovery, reflection, and community—gives the band its pulse. Beyond TAGABOW, he also runs the Julia’s War label, home to acts like Wednesday and feeble little horse, making him one of the underground’s quiet architects.

LOTTO, the band’s fourth full-length, feels like a human jolt in a screen-soaked world. It’s a 28-minute whirlwind that finds TAGABOW chasing authenticity through volume, imperfection, and live-in-the-room energy. Dulgarian wrestles with technology, consumerism, and numbness, but what cuts through most is the sound of four people feeling something real—and loud—together. It’s the sound of touching grass through distortion.

Musical Style: LOTTO takes shoegaze’s blissful haze and feeds it through a blender of noise, punk tension, and electronic pulse. You can hear the sweat in every take—four players locked in, feeding off chaos and instinct. At times it’s crushingly heavy, other times it’s light as air. The dense guitars and hammering rhythm section hit like a live set on tape, while traces of drum & bass and ambient electronics keep things unpredictable. It’s shoegaze built for the pit.

Evolution of Sound: Where Lucky Styles leaned on digital layering, LOTTO strips things back to the bone. Dulgarian ditched the effects and studio tricks to let the riffs, feedback, and performance dynamics breathe. The result feels immediate and alive—a snapshot of the band’s live chemistry. It’s TAGABOW turning away from the algorithmic polish of modern production and running headfirst toward something messy and real.

Artists with Similar Fire: TAGABOW’s sonic kin includes My Bloody Valentine, Nothing, and Duster, but their intensity also recalls Swirlies or The Jesus Lizard. Think Alex G’s vulnerable vocals meeting Turnstile’s muscle. The way they fuse noise, melody, and electronic texture sometimes nods to A Place to Bury Strangers or even early Tame Impala—unpredictable, loud, and strangely beautiful.

Pivotal Tracks: “the chase” sets the tone with church bells, spoken-word honesty, and a sudden emotional rush—it’s a gut punch opener. “trainers” rips between escape and acceptance, its jagged guitar lines breaking into cathartic bursts. “rl stine” haunts with melody and introspection, while “american food” drills into modern numbness with warped Alex G-style vocals and relentless noise. Each track captures that thrilling TAGABOW push-pull between collapse and control.

Lyrical Strength: Dulgarian’s lyrics are plainspoken but piercing. He writes like someone trying to stay honest in a world full of distractions—no metaphor walls, no hiding. Addiction, empathy, and self-awareness thread through his words, each song feeling like a half-whispered confession under the noise. Rather than preach, he questions. Rather than resolve, he exposes. It’s raw, human, and uncomfortably relatable.

Final Groove: At just 28 minutes, LOTTO leaves you wanting more—but maybe that’s the point. It’s full of jagged starts and sudden stops, ideas that feel like sketches of something massive. A few of these concepts could’ve hit even harder with more time to breathe, but what’s here is undeniable: a supercharged wall of sound wrapped around delicate vocals and disarmingly fragile songs. LOTTO proves TAGABOW can find truth in distortion, and if this is the sound of them reconnecting with the human side of noise, whatever comes next should be nothing short of explosive.

THEY ARE GUTTING A BODY OF WATER LINKS
Instagram | Bandcamp | Julia’s War Recordings | Smoking Room | ATO Records